Warren High students try to raise spirits, and a few dollars, for classmates

Sarabeth Schibler and Melissa Nunez want to raise money for Warren High School students whose families cannot afford yearbooks, class T-shirts and other memorabilia associated with the last few years of high school.

But they’re not using a fancy Internet campaign.

Instead, they grabbed a small cardboard box, cut a hole in the top, and they put some shoe rubber on the sidewalk.

Schibler, a senior, and Nunez, a junior are part of the Small Change club.

The 3-year-old group lost a little steam last year after some its founders graduated, Sarabeth said. But students are trying to jog it back into prominence.

Today and Tuesday, they’ll be running up and down Downey’s main streets asking people for money.

The goal is to create a fund that gives students a chance to work and earn credits that go toward school-related projects.

“Senior year gets really expensive,” Sarabeth said. “We help by giving people the chance to lower costs.”

They got the idea from a Small Change member who was also a member of the cross country team.

The club was founded by Warren High alumni Deborah Won, who now attends Yale University, and Esteban Garcia, who went to Georgetown.

Small Saving’s leaders this year plan to start a program for juniors to start saving up credits for their senior year.

Studies show that families this year are struggling to scrounge up money for back-t0-school items.

A July survey by Capitol One credit cards showed that two thirds of parents said the bad economy will impact school spending.

The fund-raising campaign was tough going Monday morning for Melissa and Sarabeth. They earned about $25, possibly because they started too early in the morning, Sarabeth said.

Sarabeth thinks the campaign will end up raising far more than $25.

“Everyone was nice,” she said. “Even people without money were very supportive.”