LUTHERVILLE-TIMONIUM, Md. (WMAR) — The students in the Student Government Association (SGA) at Pinewood Elementary School are really good at coming up with big ideas. They’re often tasked with figuring out how to promote events at the school or getting students and staff engaged in donation drives.
But little did the teachers with the SGA know that their 10-year-old SGA president had a big idea brewing behind the scenes.
“It was such a surprise to us that the student took the initiative to start this GoFundMe page in honor of the teachers here,” said Tyne Hake, a fourth grade teacher and SGA sponsor at Pinewood Elementary.
That student is fifth grader Hayden Shower.
“I love Pinewood, the teachers are so nice. I just wanted to make a big impact on Pinewood so I started a fundraiser,” he said.
Shower created a GoFundMe page back in December with a goal of raising $10,000. He wants to divide that money among all of the teachers at his school so they can buy supplies for their classrooms.
“The teachers are so kind to us and the students are so kind, I just wanted to give to them,” Shower said.
It didn’t take much to convince his fellow fifth grade SGA officers to get on board.
“He wasn’t told to do it, he did it because he genuinely loves Pinewood, and I think that’s not something you see everyday. That’s a really good quality” said Sarah Jeizan.
“I’ve been friends with Hayden for awhile and he’s always been a giving, not taking sort of [person],” said William Scholtz. “So when he said he wanted to give to Pinewood, I was all for it.”
His teachers couldn’t be prouder to see the virtues they instill in their students everyday, like compassion, respect and kindness, are being practiced beyond the classroom.
“We do spend a lot of our own money on things for our classrooms,” said Hake. “It’s just very thoughtful that he would consider us individually. It’s just so appreciative that he does it and it means a lot to us and it will go far.”
If you’d like to donate to Shower’s fundraiser, click here.
