High School Senior Distributes 220 Learning Kits

Seventeen-year-old Alex Elia is a shining example of the difference one person can make. For the past three years, the Detroit Country Day senior has buddied up with first-grade students at Bennett Elementary to celebrate Valentine’s Day by making cards and playing games.

The experience opened Alex’s eyes to the stark differences between a private school in Bloomfield Hills and a public school in Southwest Detroit.

“Education was always in the forefront of my mind, but I never thought about how people have different opportunities until I was exposed to it,” said Alex. “It was eye-opening to go from what Country Day offers to a school with fewer resources in the heart of Detroit.”

The annual tuition for a high school student at Detroit Country Day nears $40,000, which is far more than the median household income in Southwest Detroit of $31,945. What some families can spend on education, other families must use to meet all their basic needs.

“My whole life, I never really saw that different side and it was shocking,” said Alex. “I really started to think if there was any way I could do something about it.”

STUDENTS UNITED

Alex turned to his network to find a way to make a difference. Luckily his aunt and volunteer role model, Rema Nasif, worked closely with United Way on the Women United committee.

“The second my aunt heard, she told me, ‘I know at United Way we could do something about it,’” said Alex. “We got into contact with Tina, and it was just a very great connection.”

Through Tina Kafantaris, director of corporate experience at United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Alex learned about Students United. The affinity group brings together committed student volunteers to support the local community while growing their own leadership and professional qualities.

With Tina’s help, Alex was able to brainstorm the most abundant and accessible way to provide learning resources to students: learning kits. Then, Alex mobilized his community to raise $6,000 for the kit materials.

“My goal is to get the kids ready not just for school, but all aspects of life,” said Alex. “They aren’t going to just use it once in high school, they need the reading and math skills long-term.”

Each kit includes a drawstring bag, learning materials such as math or phonetics flashcards and additional items like pencils, pens, crayons, sharpeners, notebooks, sketchbooks or a UNO card game.

“The kits will help with basic skills that they can use forever,” said Alex.

IMPORTANCE OF SPANISH MATERIALS

At Bennett Elementary, 77.6% of students identify as Hispanic or Latine. While difficult, it was very important to Alex that the learning kit resources were accessible in Spanish.

“The biggest struggle was finding things in different languages,” said Alex. “Bennett Elementary has a large Spanish-speaking population, so they offer learning in both Spanish and English.”

On the 2024 M-STEP, only 19.5% of fifth graders at Bennett Elementary tested as proficient or above in English Language Arts. For math, this rose to 21.7% of fifth graders.

“Thinking about that, how would the kids have access to the materials if English is not their first language?” said Alex.

The kits will bring engaging multi-lingual learning materials to La Casa Amiga, an organization dedicated to supporting immigrants and their families in Pontiac and southeast Michigan.

PACKING THE KITS

On September 22nd, an assembly line of volunteers formed at the Bloomfield Township Public Library. The library tables hold all sorts of educational and fun items to be sorted and packed to create 220 learning kits.

“The volunteers are primarily people I reached out to,” said Alex. “A lot of my friends are looking for ways to help out so it’s mostly word of mouth.”

Joseph Hakim, senior at Brother Rice and Alex’s best friend, joined him to help pack the kits.

“We have to do 20 community service hours for school,” said Joseph. “This is great for that, and I can help out my friend and help the community.”

After packing the kits, Alex and the team took a visit to the Detroit office of United Way for Southeastern Michigan to be thanked for their work. From witnessing inequality to acting against it, Alex is showing what we can all do for our communities.

Interested in learning more about Students United? Click here for more information or visit our volunteer portal to find an event near you.