We have all heard the famous Gandhi quote "you must be the change you wish to see in this world," but for Clear Lake High School's 9th grade world geography teacher, Mrs. Kelly Glos, the quote took on a whole new meaning.

The week of May 12, Mrs. Glos's 9th graders set out to put their money where Gandhi's mouth was - by attempting to fill two giant water jugs with change to benefit Manna Energy partnered with Engineers Without Border's Rwanda Project.

The Rwanda Project deploys water treatment plants to over 250,000 students and teachers in secondary schools throughout Rwanda. The Manna Energy project was founded by local NASA employees, including two astronauts.

Mrs. Glos has always tried to give her students a broad spatial perspective of the world, but some 9th graders have difficulty transitioning from pre-teen to full-fledged high school life.

They are trying to find their place at the 'bottom of the high school food chain' and instead of feeling powerless, Mrs. Glos helped inspire them to become empowered with this worldly service project.

At first, some 9th graders were less than thrilled to undertake a service project that wasn't a school requirement and would require asking other students and faculty for loose change.

After all, teens may sometimes have a hard time empathizing with situations of people halfway around the world. After Mrs. Glos explained the purpose of the Manna project to her students, and put her confidence in them, convincing them that they did have the potential to make a difference, they coined the term 'change for change,' and set out, determined to fill the water jugs during the three day fundraiser.

Mrs. Glos's students each carried water bottles to all of their classes to solicit donations and alert their classmates of their cause. They advertised, went from table to table at lunch, and scavenged for money at home.

They rose to the occasion and the change in the two giant water jugs rose to the top by the end of the three day fundraiser. Sixty five students stayed after school one day to roll and count the money. All in all, the jugs contained $2558.50 worth of pocket change. Not bad for freshmen!

One of the founders of Manna Energy came to Clear Lake High School and congratulated the students on their outstanding success and reassured them the money would be put to good use so students just like them in Rwanda could have clean water.

Mrs. Glos not only teaches her students about world geography, but with this fundraiser, she instilled in them the importance of being good global citizens and budding humanitarians.

Contrary to what seniors think, every little freshman counts. And contrary to what many people think, ever little bit counts!

If you are interested in learning more about Manna Energy's Rwanda Project, go to mannaenergy.org

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