Even though Natalie Hood is in high school, she isn't too old to enjoy coloring.
Hood, a sophomore at Haslett High School, said her government class was assigned a civic action project, where they had to choose an issue and come up with a solution.
The issue she chose was making sure school supplies reflected every student.
“Equitable school supplies are school supplies that come in a variety of skin tones so that every student can feel reflected in their work," Hood said.
But she took it one step farther.
“Instead of just coming up with a plausible solution to the action, I decided I actually wanted to do a fundraiser to try to fix it in the community,” Hood said.
She found Crayola crayon packs called Colors of the World that have 24 different skin tones. Hood set a goal to have multiple packs in the 21 kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Wilkshire Elementary School.
“I think it’s really important that students are able to reflect themselves in their work and I also think it will give students a sense of belonging at school that they may not have had before,” Hood said.
In addition to the crayon packs, Hood wants to donate three packs of construction paper to each classroom, bringing her fundraising goal to $950.
“The support from the community has been amazing," Hood said. "I’ve been completely blown away.”
What she wasn't expecting was to pass that goal. By a lot.
“We’re right around $2,000 right now which is way more than I expected,” said Hood.
With that much, Hood said she can add additional supplies for each classroom and expand to every grade level and work her way through the district.
“I think it’s really important that during art projects and stuff teachers can just get out the crayons and let the kids all color themselves and especially color their peers too," Hood said.
She said she wants every kid to feel represented in the classroom through crayons and art supplies.
“It gives the kids a good foundation to build off of for their future,” said Hood.
Hood will be collecting donations until June 11. Donations can be made through Venmo to @colors4kids.
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