Northern Highlands Regional High School’s TEEEM Club, which stands for The Empathy, Equality, Entrepreneurship Mission (TEEEM), has been working hard to fundraise to provide essential resources to communities in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Guided by adviser Sidonie King, a world language teacher, over 90 members of TEEEM have raised more than $22,000. Thanks to matching donations, they have been ale to provide more than $32,000 to help provide access to clean drinking water and other supplies.
“We do a variety of fundraisers and partnerships with other schools in our New Jersey community,” King says. “In November, we do a 5K walk and students are sponsored by friends and family. Last year, we also decided to recreate a typical Burkina village. We worked with two French-American schools in Jersey City and Englewood. Students could paint little animals or African dolls and older students used fabric from Burkina Faso to make traditional masks. We also built miniature versions of typical Burkinabe homes.”
After they completed constructing the village, they brought everything to Northern Highlands to display.
Another fundraising effort was a gala and silent auction. Students put together 23 baskets. The guests of honor included George Ebadien, their Burkinabe counterpart. The event was a success and, as a result of all their hard work, they will be able to fund one oasis and two-to-three wells.
“This has been a wonderful experience,” King says. “The students have been really devoted. They have compassion and empathy, and they love being part of this effort. We’re very excited because we are truly going to make a big impact.”
While TEEM has been a club at Northern Highlands since 2016, the fundraising has skyrocketed in the past two years. The Northern Highlands students also work with students at Milburn High School and Pascack Valley High School.
“I give students direction, but they really are in charge of everything,” King says. “I love seeing them take charge. They have great ideas, and they are making a huge change for the people in Burkina Faso.”