Odessa American- Organization looks to improve the community

BY NATHANIEL MILLER
Students at Odessa High School and Permian may be cross-town rivals, but one organization has students putting aside their differences for the greater good of the Odessa community.

The Students in Philanthropy program, started in 1997 at Midland College, has only been around nine years in the Ector County Independent School District, but the organization is making a name for itself with the amount of work they do with local nonprofit organizations.

Working with the West Texas Food Bank, Meals and Wheels and plans to participate with Christmas for the Troops, students in the programs at Odessa High and Permian are gearing up for the holidays.

“We’re about to kick off the real busy seasons,” Permian sponsor and teacher Jannine Meier said.

Students in Philanthropy, which also has organizations at Odessa College, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Midland College, Midland Lee High School, Midland High School and Greenwood High School, has also awarded more than $1 million in grant money.

Starting out as an organization that met weekly, Students in Philanthropy is now a daily class that can be taken as a social studies elective. The class is restricted to only juniors and seniors and students must apply for the class before the beginning of the year.

Currently, the Permian class has 23 students and the OHS class has 20.

The class is divided in two semesters: the fall semester where students raise money and volunteer for nonprofits in their area, and then the spring semester where the students invite grant applications from the nonprofit organizations and award the money.

Meier said the organization uses fundraisers to raise money for the grants awarded at the end of the year. The Abell-Hanger Foundation also helps out by matching the organization’s raised donations on a 1-to-10 basis. Meaning, if students raise the minimum of $500, they’ll receive $5,000 from Abell-Hanger, Meier said.

During their class time, the students learn about parliamentary procedures, budgets and grant writing to better understand how organizations work and what to look for when they go over grant applications at the end of the year. Odessa High School SIP sponsor and teacher Stephanie Tercero said the students will discuss where they think the money should go and who they believe deserves it the most.

“It’s interesting to hear them talk about it,” Tercero said.

All students in the organization in the Odessa/Midland area meet twice in a year in an area-wide conference; once in the fall and again in the spring. This year’s fall conference was held Saturday at Midland College.

The students themselves said they enjoy the class and felt accomplish with all they’ve done. Senior Jarrod Phillips, 17, president of the Permian organization, and senior Melina Brito, 17, president of the Odessa High organization, both said the class has motivated them help those less fortunate then themselves.

“I didn’t realize how much people needed our help,” Phillips said.

Brito agreed.

“When you help and see people’s faces … you feel accomplished,” she said.