Students at Small High School Raise Money for Neighbors

There are 13 graduates this year from Isleboro Central, a small high school on an island near the U.S. state of Maine. Most of them live on Isleboro, which has a year-round population of about 700.

The school's graduating class usually takes a trip to a far away country to celebrate. The 2021 class was considering a visit to Greece or South Korea. The students did jobs around the small island to raise money for their travel costs. They earned about $8,000 from their work.

But, when it looked like international travel would be difficult because of COVID-19, they considered a trip within the U.S.

In the end, they went nowhere.

Instead the students decided¹ to donate their money to help their neighbors on Isleboro. They gave $5,000 to the Island Community Fund, an aid group on Isleboro.

The students said they had seen many people on the island dealing² with job losses and financial problems after the coronavirus health crisis³ struck.

It would have seemed, in student Liefe Temple's words, "weird⁴ and definitely wrong" for them to take the traditional trip when people were suffering.

The money helped islanders feed their families and meet other needs.

"It felt really good to do that with our money, to give it back to the people who gave it to us," Temple said.

It was a good feeling for the Island Community Fund, as well. Fred Thomas is the president.

"Their decision demonstrated an awareness⁵ of the hardship in their community and a willingness to do something about it," he said of the young people.

The students also gave some money to help pay unexpected costs for the island's vaccination⁶ operations. The students got a kick out of giving money so their teachers could get the jab.

The students still have some money left. They are thinking about what to do with it.

Olivia Britton is one of the students. She said it seemed "obvious" to give the money back to the people living on the island. Britton's mother, Megan, is a doctor. She said people sometimes criticize young people. But, "this really flies in the face of that."

Words in This Story

graduate - n. a person who has earned a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university

weird – adj. unusual or strange

awareness – n. knowledge of a situation

hardship – n. pain and suffering

obvious – adj. easy for the mind to understand or recognize

fly in the face – idiom to oppose or contradict⁷ a popular thought or idea

jab – n. an injection of medicine into your body with a needle

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

7 contradict   

vt.反驳，否认...的真实性，与...发生矛盾

参考例句：

• Young children should never contradict what their parents say.孩子们绝对不应顶撞父母。
• They contradict each other all the time.他们总是相互抵触。