In Ivory Park, children are thankful for support provided by the students and staff at North Allegheny High School in PA.
At North Allegheny High School in Wexford, PA, students are social entrepreneurs. Through recent dodgeball tournaments, organizers of You Throw it; I Dodge it; They Keep it! did more than just raise funds for the people of Ivory Park, South Africa. They also developed a scalable, replicable project model – a tangible template of success filled with clear-cut strategies that other schools can apply.
In the summer of 2009, North Allegheny student Akshaya Arjunan was introduced to the concept of social entrepreneurship and the Keep It! Campaign while attending an Advanced Gold Workshop sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils (PASC). After learning about the hardships facing Ivory Park residents, Arjunan was inspired to take action. She encouraged a committee of classmates to act locally and reach globally by including Ivory Park as a beneficiary of the high school’s upcoming tournament. Tesin Gnalian, a 2010 graduate of North Allegheny, served as a cabinet head in charge of organizing the event. The group’s efforts paid off and more than $1,100 was collected for Ivory Park.
During the 2010-2011 school year, the students hosted a second dodgeball tournament to benefit Keep It! This time, student council member Antony Gnalian was ready to take the leadership reigns from sister Tesin. “Tesin’s determination and drive is what influenced me to become a student leader,” he says. “She taught me that you do not need a fancy executive title in order to make a difference.”
Along with winning leadership qualities, Antony also shared his sister’s commitment to making a difference in Ivory Park. He notes that students at North Allegheny have access to a quality education, and he believes in sharing this opportunity with others who are less fortunate. He states, “It is important that we give as much as we can to help improve educational facilities. This way other children may have opportunities to rise through the ranks and help contribute to the advancement of society.”
Rather than starting from scratch, 2010-2011 tournament organizers were able to rely on documentation from their past experiences to make project planning easier. In addition, students and staff took their leadership responsibilities to the next level by contributing key materials for the creation of a dodgeball tournament manual. “Basically, all of the information we needed was right there at our fingertips,” explains student council adviser Patti Dzambo. “Having the model as a guide helped to ease the overwhelming nature of the project.” As a result, students collected more than $1,900 for Keep It!
With project blueprints provided by North Allegheny, the PASC’s Kathy Coll and Keep It! founder Bob Tryanski were able to publish a “how to” manual documenting the secrets to planning a successful dodgeball tournament. The manual is currently available to all schools in Pennsylvania and throughout the country. “The manual has become such a valuable tool for other schools to use in states as far away from Pennsylvania as Texas and New Mexico. North Allegheny’s idea has had tremendous reach and this is only the beginning,” says Tryanski.
Dzambo is proud of the efforts of North Allegheny students and co-adviser Pam Kohlmann in supporting local community efforts as well as the Campaign for Ivory Park. She notes that photos and story updates regarding the progress in Ivory Park are motivating. “The students at North Allegheny are some of the most dedicated, loyal, and giving students any adviser could ask for,” says Dzambo. “It is fabulous that we have officers who are willing to devote many hours toward creating opportunities that allow our student body to have fun while supporting a worthwhile cause.”
Patti Dzambo and her team are making a difference in Ivory Park.
Tryanski believes that the efforts of the NA team have impacted the success of the Keep It! Campaign and have created positive, long-term changes in Ivory Park. He notes, “There are so many inspiring dimensions to the North Allegheny Keep It! story. Akshaya and Tesin’s friendship got things moving for us at the school. Antony’s relationship with his sister continued the momentum. But the one constant from one year to the next has been the guidance, direction, encouragement, and support provided by Patti Dzambo. Patti has been a true champion for this project, and thousands of miles away, more children are being fed, more books are being read and a community grows stronger. This is the power of connection, caring and concern that Patti, Pam Kohlmann, and the students of NA have given to Ivory Park. What a wonderful, meaningful, significant gift!”
The Keep It! Campaign is proud to honor Patti Dzambo, Pam Kohlmann, and the amazing student leaders at North Allegheny High School. As a team, they Keep It Going! with dedication, enthusiasm, and the implementation of a project model that works.
To view the dodgeball tournament manual, go to www.keepitcampaign.com/dodgeball.