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Diagonal students receive unexpected gift
Diagonal students heading to Europe this summer include (seated, L-R) Jaylynn Doolittle, Addy Burton, Shae O’Kelley, and Weston Drake. Standing are chaperons Lacy Doolittle and Crystal Drake. Not pictured is student Avery Grace.)
This summer promises to be an exciting time for a small group of Diagonal students. For 10 days in July, DHS freshmen Jaylynn Doolittle and Weston Drake and eighth-graders Avery Grace and Shae O’Kelley, along with their chaperons Lacy Doolittle and Crystal Drake, will embark on an educational tour of Italy and Greece. Booked through EF Tours, a company that specializes in student tours abroad, main destinations will include Rome and Athens and feature all the history and rich culture each city has to offer. For nearly a year, the students have been preparing for their trip, learning about the culture as well as more “everyday” matters.
“We’re limited to carry ons,” said Drake, “so we’re learning packing skills and what they’ll need for technology like cell phone chargers.”
A major part of preparation comes with paying for their trip.
The cost for the tour is $6,000 per participant, with airfare, accommodations, two meals per day, and entrance and excursion fees all included.
The Diagonal students have been actively fund-raising for over a year in preparation for their adventure. They have worked at lunch stands at auctions and other events, sold pies at Easter, and hosted a pancake breakfast among other activities. Later this spring the group plans to prepare a community meal featuring Greek food and share some of what they’ve already learned about Greek culture.
However, one unexpected donation to their trip caught the group by surprise. Drake and others familiar with these students applied for a grant through the DEKKO Foundation.
“They want to buy things like actual tangible items,” said Drake, “so the concept of students traveling and helping to offset the cost for that was something that was a little bit different.”
Still, Drake felt DEKKO might be open to such an unusual request.
“We really tried to focus on [how] this would help expand their knowledge base … and their ability to see different cultures and interact, be immersed in other languages, independence of being away from home.”
For several months Drake interacted with the DEKKO grant committee to explain the benefits a grant could offer.
“The DEKKO grant is rigorous,” she said. “I started in September, and then you have a variety of grant interviews with the committee. They asked for a lot more information, and I would go back to the community of Diagonal and get some feedback.”
Despite her best efforts, DEKKO declined their grant application.
“We didn’t meet the qualifications that they had set for themselves as a foundation,” Drake said. “However, we left a lasting impression on one of the committee members.”
That lasting impression paid off.
“On the day that Crystal told all of us we did not get [the grant],” related Dootlittle, “we get this letter in the mail. When I opened it, it was just this blank piece of paper with a check.”
A check for $10,500. After learning of the mysterious check, Drake made contact with her DEKKO representative.
“If this has been a mistake, it’s fine,” she told her DEKKO contact. “We can send the check back. I understand why we didn’t get it.”
Drake heard a long sigh on the other end of conversation.
“I kind of wondered if this wouldn’t happen,” said the contact.
He informed Drake that Erica Dekko, the daughter of Chester Dekko, the foundation’s founder, had written the check from her own personal funds.
“Tell those kids,” said the contact, “that somebody somewhere believes in them. And when they get the opportunity to do things like this, tell them to take every opportunity they can to travel the world, to learn more about themselves, the cultures that make up this world, and seize every opportunity. She [Erica Dekko] felt so strongly about the kids and the opportunity. She could relate to the small community, and that an opportunity like this doesn’t come along every day for kids in the smallest school district in Iowa.”
The group is now close to attaining their fundraising goal for the trip, thanks not only to the Dekko check but also to the generosity of the Diagonal community.
“It’s the support which the Diagonal community always does,” said Drake. “They support these youth in any way they can.”
Following their return from Europe, the group hopes to host a community event during which they will share their experiences.
“We owe them that,” concluded Drake, “especially since we have had such great support from the community.”
