“I feel like we’ve done something, even if it’s small,” sophomore Atticus Chavira said.

Chavira, along with sophomore Lottie Thorsen, and junior Jan Redd, held a campus wide shoe drive, donating the shoes to low-income families in Oakland, Thorsen said.

“It has helped us be more attached to our community,” Redd said.

Social psych teacher Anne Peacock came up with the idea during their fourth period class. It was a suggestion for a class assignment to do something that would better the community, Thorsen said.

“We watched a documentary about homeless teenagers, and we thought about something we could do to help the community outside Piedmont,” Redd said.

Redd said they learned about the organisation My New Red Shoes and decided they wanted to help all the children who needed a new pair of shoes for the 2018-2019 school year.

“We ended up becoming more attached to the project as it went on,” Chavira said.

They reached out to My New Red Shoes and recieved some posters and a box for donations. They ironically could not accept red or blue shoes due to the gang connotations, instead encouraging people to bring in new, neutral-toned, rubber-soled, athletic shoes. In total, they received 53 pairs, said Thorsen.

“Even though our goal was 80 pairs, we got 50 which is still a lot,” Redd said. “I’m really thankful for that.”

Redd said that the hardest part of the experience was giving a presentation in front of all of MHS, during a monthly falcon meeting. However, they were all glad they did.

“I am proud of everyone at school for participating and helping us donate some shoes,” Redd said.