WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Mount Greylock Regional High School students donated $1,000 to the Berkshire Immigrant Center (BIC) during a Greylock Talks presentation focusing on immigration in the Berkshires.

 

During the lecture, Tuesday, eighth-grade students Lillian Howe, Abbe Ali-Nixon, and Esme Aalberts handed over a $1,000 check to a BIC Volunteer Coordinator Charles Bonenti. 

 

"[The student raising money is] remarkable to me. We may hire them as fundraisers for other projects we have going here in the districts. It's really impressive," Superintendent Jason Mccandless said. 

 

The three students raised money over the summer by baking and selling cookies. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Joelle Brookner said she was not surprised to hear of this kind gesture.

 

"I've known them since elementary school, and they're just always thinking beyond themselves so it's wonderful and it's really not all that surprising," Brookner said. 

 

The Berkshire Immigrant Center advocates for the rights of all immigrants by guiding them through the United States immigration system. The center assists more than 700 individuals annually from more than 60 countries, their website reads. 

 

This is not the first time the trio raised money for a special cause, and over the last two summers, the group held a bake sale to donate funds to the Berkshire Food Project in North Adams. They raised $920 in their first two years of fundraising. 

 

"During the school year, we don't really have time to do any charity or anything like that because we're so busy,” Howe said. “But in the summer, I feel like we might as well if we're baking cookies, then we might as well make them for a good cause.”

 

During the actual presentation, Mount Greylock students heard from two speakers: Kyungmin Yook, a Williams College student who won a grant to study resources and services for local immigrants and Bonenti.

 

"I think as a superintendent, as an educator, as a dad, anything we can do that that gets our students to think about life beyond their town life, beyond their current friend and acquaintance group, to think about the bigger world and their place in it, and the impact that they can make is worthwhile," Superintendent Mccandless said

 

Mount Greylock Regional High School graduates Jake and Sam Kobrin started Greylock Talks in 2014 hoping to create a platform for conversation that do not always happen in the normal school curriculum.

 

"A talk like this makes me think of people in our community doing great work and opportunities for our students to learn about these things that are happening in our community that we might not know about," Mount Greylock Regional High School sophomore and Greylock Talks subcommittee chair Caleb Low said.