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Maxine Pelligra, an 11th grader, made this amber necklace, which was auctioned. —Scott Mullin photo Maxine Pelligra, an 11th grader, made this amber necklace, which was auctioned. —Scott Mullin photo |
A charity jewelry auction run by Joel Barlow High School students last weekend to benefit Lakotas on the Pine Ridge Reservation was a huge success, according to their teacher.
Lee Skalkos, an Easton artist who teaches a jewelry-making class at Barlow, was ecstatic over the outcome of the auction.
“The event went extremely fantastic,” she said. “We had standing room only. The kids served the food, welcomed everyone at the door, took in the money, kept track of what sold, mingled and cashed everyone out. I was very proud.”
The students sold all 32 pieces they had hand-crafted themselves and raised $3,600 to help students at Red Cloud High School in South Dakota buy art supplies. The Barlow students have been in contact with Lakota high school students since the beginning of the school year. Ms. Skalkos explained to her students that Pine Ridge is one of the “poorest reservations” in the United States. By making the connection with the Lakota students, Ms. Skalkos said she wanted Barlow students to learn about traditions other than their own.
Students in her class began exchanging letters and videos with their teenage counterparts on the reservation. The young people from the two schools shared “their likes and dislikes, traditions, values, ethnic backgrounds, favorite foods and thoughts about schoolwork,” she said. The cultural exchange culminated in the benefit auction.
Milo Cramer, a Joel Barlow student, stole the show as the auctioneer.
“He had everyone in stitches,” said Ms. Skalkos. “He was fabulous.”
The event featured a slide show about the process of making the jewelry. Ms. Skalkos described the bidding as “fast and furious and fun.”
“It was an awesome experience for all involved,” she said. “I had one parent tell me that she had not been to an event that fun since she didn’t know when.”
—by MAGGIE CALDWELL
Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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