Local fifth graders show their smarts to raise awareness of hunger and homelessness

This week, several local organizations volunteered their time and resources to bring awareness to hunger and homelessness.

But, a crop of fifth graders also seemed to be down for the cause.

A school-friendly version of the popular Fox TV game show, “Are They Smarter than a Fifth Grader?”, was produced Thursday at Bloomington High School South. The event raised money for Martha’s House, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, Shalom Community Center and Stepping Stones during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

Warren Wade, assistant director of Stepping Stones, said last year the four aforementioned organizations put together a comedy show that a predominantly adult audience attended.
“This year when we began planning the event in September, we were hoping to engage a different population,” he said.
Students from Lakeview Elementary School wrote essays in response to how they could prevent homelessness and hunger. Ten essays were chosen out of 70, said Lisa Roberts, a Lakeview Elementary teacher. The best essays were posted outside the door leading to the high school’s auditorium, where the game show took place.
One of the students, a fifth-grader named Samantha Mehay, composed an essay in which she proposed a school that would educate high school and college students for free. She added that if students had to work third shift at a job, the school would still be open day and night for them to utilize its resources. In her essay, Mehay wrote that the school would be called, “A Better Tomorrow.”
The game show, lead by Kelley School of Business lecturer Darryl Neher featured questions at a grade-school level ranging in subject matter from earth science to grammar.
Children and family members in the crowd cheered on the 10 participating fifth-graders and other contestants.
Pam Thrash from local radio station B97, Dr. Richard Malone from Southern Indiana Pediatrics and IU senior Myles Robinson played alongside the student contestants.
Samantha Mehay’s mother, Traci Mehay, said she thought it was “neat” how various organizations from the community got involved for the event’s production.
Food donations were provided by sponsors such as  Aver’s Pizza, Marsh and Kroger.
All the food was donated and all the proceeds will be split among the four agencies to continue with a mission in serving the population, Wade said.
“It’s nice they’re donating all this money,” senior Corrin Harvey said, who was working at the event on behalf of Indiana Public Interest Research Group. “And who doesn’t love little kids?’