Oakman Elementary School
Commendations to the PTA and staff at Oakman Elementary for jumping into action and making outstanding efforts to provide assistance when they learn that families in their community are in need. This fall, St. Clement Church contacted Oakman Elementary to ask for help in restocking the food pantry they run to help feed the hungry. The church pantry lost all of its supplies during the August 2014 flood. In response, the students and staff held a food drive in which they collected 1,633 cans of food. This was enough food to restock the shelves at St. Clement and donate food to a program called “Feed Detroit” run by HYPE Athletics Community in Dearborn Heights. HYPE gave turkeys to Oakman families at Thanksgiving and donated food to 300 needy families just before Christmas.
Oakman families also collected hats and mittens and put them on the school’s Giving Tree to be used by Oakman students who need warm clothing.
A special thank you to Oakman parents Amged Monyidden, Maherra Jadallah, Rose Harb, and Nouhad Sayed and Oakman Parent/Student Liaison Nadia Dakroub for their “above and beyond” efforts. After everyone had left school for winter break, this group headed out to local stores to purchase $1,700 worth of clothing and footwear for the children of three families desperately in need. The money was donated by parents and staff members. In another instance, just last week, the school learned that a family with three students at Oakman was in desperate need of furniture. The PTA and staff immediately put out the word to school parents and staff, asking for donations of furniture. Mrs. Rydlick, an Oakman first grade teacher, donated a couch and delivered it to the family with the help of her husband. Another team of parents went shopping to purchase additional furniture for the family. They received a wonderful surprise when the owner of Detroit Furniture on Warren did not charge the volunteers for the furniture they were going to purchase. A special thank you to Detroit Furniture for donating the furniture to the family in need! The kindness of Oakman parents, school staff and the owner of Detroit Furniture are shining examples of the care and compassion found across our school district, making Dearborn a truly special place to call home.