Tweens for Jeans at Sayville Middle School

The jeans collection that began January 12th until February 12th stirred lots of excitement at Sayville Middle School. It was the first time the Middle School students were participating in the Teens for Jeans Program. “As one of the only middle schools in the Town of Islip’s Anti-Bias program,” said Mr. Paul Simonsen, Sayville Middle School Students Assistance Councilor, “this was our chance to be part of what the high schools have done before, in years past.”

This drive was part of a national program launched by Aeropostale, a mall-based specialty retailer of casual apparel, and DoSomething.org, the largest not-for-profit organization for young people and social change. According to their website, “Teens for Jeans encourages young people to run a gently-used jeans drive in their school or community to provide jeans for youth experiencing homelessness. To date, the campaign has collected over 4.3 million pairs of jeans.”

 “The purpose,” Mr. Simonsen continued, was to donate slightly worn and clean jeans to homeless kids in the United States who just want to feel normal, like other teens, and jeans are a good way for that to happen. Our Middle School Leadership students spread the word through morning announcements and going into each Advisory. They also helped with the collecting and sorting into groups of ten. Our teachers and staff, and parents also donated and it was a building/community effort.  We collected over 250 pairs of jeans and with the great contributions from the High School I think our school district can be proud of its efforts.”