In the weeks before winter break, Skyline’s Black Student Union (BSU) and the Rising Scholars programs held their third annual donation drive to benefit Save Our Souls Community Services (SOS).  

This drive raised $1000 from students across the district to help support families in need.  “SOS has always benefited from students — their energy, talent, and determination to make our community a better place,” says Barbra Cecil, development director of SOS. “Whether organizing drives like the BSU Rising Scholars or interning or volunteering, we rely on hundreds of students every year to keep SOS’s mission going.” 

The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic put the SOS donation drive in the spotlight with Skyline students stepping up to raise money for underprivileged people in Ypsilanti to live comfortably.  Says Cecil, ”Before the pandemic, we would serve 125-150 households a week. Now we serve 275 households a week with food and personal care items.”

BSU and the Scholars program have collaborated for three years on the SOS donation drive because both of these groups are really focused on helping students of color and love to collaborate any chance they get to help a bigger cause.

Skyline’s Black Student Union tries to do various activities along with fundraisers such as field trips, participation in the homecoming parade, and most recently planning the upcoming spirit week. But mainly BSU is a club that focuses on creating a safe place for Black students to share personal experiences and relate to each other in ways that other students in Skyline may not know about.  

“BSU has a few purposes,” says Lakesha Barton, support team member of BSU, “being an equity base group to support black and brown students to work in the community.” 

A lot of students in BSU are Rising Scholars as well, as each group has a similar goal. Rising Scholars is an “across the district initiative that was created around 15 years ago to close the achievement gap for students we traditionally do not see in AP and AC courses,” says Tonya Whitehorn, English Department Chair and Rising Scholars coordinator.

Not only does this drive benefit people in need, it gives BSU and Rising Scholars a chance to help people. Jae Drake  (‘25) said “Rising scholars matter to me because having representation of all groups is  important. The fact that we all have that in AAPS is amazing because not all groups are represented or recognized for their academic accomplishments so having that in our schools is very important not only to me but to the other Rising Scholars.”

BSU president Jessica Porter (‘24) also shared her thoughts on participating in this drive over the years. “I appreciate everyone who was able to donate and those who were willing to give out to people who need it, especially during the holidays.”

The groups will continue to do this drive for years to come because of how beneficial it has been to families, Whitehorn said. “It’s been so beneficial.  Yesterday when I dropped the donation off people were taking pictures and it made me feel proud of Skyline…we are helping fill the need in the community because food has gotten so expensive.”