One major impact of Hurricane Harvey was on schools. The storm caused schools in the Houston area to delay the beginning of the year, damaged several campuses and caused several teachers and students to lose their homes and possessions.

The California Interscholastic Foundation and the Sac-Joaquin Section— the league where Benicia High School plays all its sports— set up a fundraiser where its schools would be partnered with affected schools in the Houston area. As a result, Benicia High is sponsoring two schools in the Klein Independent School District in Harris County, Texas that were impacted in their own way.

Lemm Elementary School in Spring suffered extensive flooding damage that resulted in the school being temporarily closed. Much of the destruction occurred in the library, where two feet of water had soaked the room leading to books and electronic equipment being removed. The entire campus is being renovated and could take as long as a year for it to be back in shape.

Klein Cain High School in Klein opened its doors for the first time to freshmen and sophomores at the start of the school year. The school itself was not damaged in the hurricane, and it even opened a wing for Lemm Elementary Schoolers to use. However, many of the teachers lost everything, including their homes.

Brianna Kleinschmidt, the principal of Benicia High, said she was contacted by SJS Commissioner Mike Garrison about participating. After accepting, Benicia High was matched with Klein Cain High. Kleinschmidt talked to that school’s principal, Nicole Patin, and learned that it was housing Lemm Elementary students for the rest of the year.

“We offered to adopt that school as well,” Kleinschmidt said.

Benicia High’s goal is to raise between $2,000 and $2,500 which will go toward providing library books and supplies to the elementary schoolers and assisting the high school teachers who lost their homes and possessions. Benicia High is giving the community an opportunity to help out by accepting cash donations at the front office through the end of the week Additionally, the school held a donation drive on Friday during that night’s football game where more than $600 was raised.

Kleinschmidt is proud of the spirit of giving that comes with the fundraiser.

“Our students are excited to make a difference and we hope that by partnering with a high school and an elementary school that there is a closer connection made that could lead to future communications and projects between the two schools,” she said. “We want to make a difference in our community and in other areas of need.”

The school is accepting donations of $1 or more through Friday, Sept. 29 at the BHS main office, located at 1101 Military West. Checks can also be made out to either Lemm Elementary School or Klein Cain High School. For more information, contact Benicia High at 747-8325 or email Kleinschmidt at bkleinschmidt@beniciaunified.org.

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