Student Makes a Difference

Alex and his friends pack learning kits for underserved students.

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 in Detroit 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.”

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.

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.

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.

“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.”