by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff

BATH - Kids at the Dike-Newell school raised $731.13 in a penny drive for their sister school, Netzahualcoyoti School and Kindergarten in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.  With other community and church donations, the total this year is $1198.90.

This is the third year the children have participated, thanks to the influence of teacher Marie Smith and her husband, Craig, who venture down once a year to help the school with its many needs.

“The first day of the drive,” Craig Smith said, “we had about $25.  I thought, great, we might have a hundred dollars when we go down.  I was pretty happy about that.”

The next day, Marie couldn’t carry the bucket out to the car, it was so heavy.

In past years, Smith’s class has held Mexican suppers and teach-ins to raise both money and awareness of the plight of the school and its children.

“Mexico doesn’t really pay to help this school, which serves not only poor migrant children, but also Aztec indigenous kids,” Marie Smith said.  “We’ve been able to help in a small way by getting classrooms improved, working on the dormitory, and, our special project, helping to build a library of Spanish language books.”

To that end, the Sunrise Rotary has helped out, this year offering $1200 for books.

Smith will spend her time in Mexico trying to organize the classrooms and set up the library.

Craig Smith will help fix broken windows, tiles, and doors in the dormitory building.

The program also offers cultural exchange for the students in Bath.  First and third graders learn Spanish and write to the students in Mexico, as do students in seventh grade Spanish classes.

To see how the school is doing, visitors can log onto www.projectnetza.blogspot.com.  Smith will report as often as possible on how things are going.