The students of Gallup Catholic School can now rejoice that they have a more comfortable school uniform option available.
After hearing about the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the teachers and staff of the school got together to brainstorm about how they could help. Suddenly, from the back, science teacher Sr. Christiann Laudolff, CSA, piped up: what about buck-a-jeans? The idea was right there in the title. Each day that a student wanted to wear jeans to school, they could, as long as they paid one dollar. The teachers then collect the dollars and the school as a whole contributes the money to relief efforts.
“We did that once at one of my old schools,” said Sr. Laudolff. “So now we have about two-thirds of the kids here doing it.”
According to Barbara Kozeliski, the principal at Gallup Catholic, the idea was an instant success.
“In just one week, we’ve already raised about $100”, Kozeliski said. “We’re going to continue to do this until Christmas.”
Anyone walking around the school would see plenty of jeans among the traditional uniform khakis, and every student was more than happy to turn over a dollar in order to wear them. One eighth-grader, Lucia Kezele, said that the students are always ready to help with a good cause.
“We’ve already done something similar to this for missions in Honduras,” Kezele said.
 
One third-grader said that it meant a lot to her to help raise money for typhoon victims because she had family in the Philippines, and even though they are safe, she still wanted to contribute.
Gallup Catholic is busy with other projects. Currently, the school is in the middle of changing its name from “Gallup Catholic School” to “Sacred Heart Catholic School.” Kozeliski noted that the school was originally named after the Sacred Heart when it was founded in 1912.
“We’re mostly waiting on the Kennedy Directory,” she said. “The name in the directory and the name of the school have to match in order to keep our tax status, and so when the next edition comes out in June, the name change should be effective.”
In recent months, a statue of the Sacred Heart which was displayed prominently in front of the school was stolen and vandalized. Kozeliski doesn’t hold out much hope that the statue will be recovered, but said that the jeans fundraiser will continue after Christmas with the goal of buying a replacement statue.
In the meantime, the statue’s grotto may sit empty, but the students and staff of Gallup Catholic School certainly keep their plates full.
You can find out more about Gallup Catholic School by calling (505) 863-6652.Â
To find out how you can help with typhoon relief efforts, visit the website of Catholic Relief Services.