Tim Leeds
By SUNS students hold taco sale
Havre High School students were lined up in the halls waiting to buy Indian Tacos from members of the SUNS program Wednesday.
Amber Tijerina, president of SUNS (Students United for New Successes, the alternative education program at Robins School), said they have been selling tacos for about four years now, and it has been very successful every year.
There are about 19 or 20 students in the program, and all are involved in the activity, she said.
Tijerina said the group has held this sale for the last four years. She said Larry Singer, who was a tutor with the program at the time, taught them how to make the fry-bread and other ingredients, and they have held the sale ever since.
She said the fund raiser is divided into two parts. For the first part of the sale they sold tacos to the faculty at Robins, she said. She said they decided to donate the proceeds from this sale to Habitat for Humanity, which helps build low-income housing.
"We thought it was an excellent idea because a little goes a long way," she said. "$20 buys a 50 pound bag of nails."
Tijerina said the proceeds from the sale at the high school is used to help fund SUNS end-of-the-year field trip. She said the group takes a trip at the end of every year.
The trips are both educational and fun, Tijerina said. She said they will go to both museums and water slides, for example.
"It's kind of a reward for a job well-done all year", she said.
SUNS Department Chair Debbie Kirby said they use the field trip as a team-building activity all year. She said the students are completely in charge, doing the planning, all fund raising and all necessary contacts in order to have the field trip.
"All of the hard work comes together at the end of the year," she said.
She said this is the fifth year for the end of school activity. She said this year they plan to travel to Billings. In the past they have gone to Helena, Bozeman and the Flathead Valley, she said.
Kirby said they always combine educational activities with the entertainment. In Bozeman they visited the MSU campus, and at Flathead they visited Flathead Community College along with Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Big Fork, she said.
"The year we went to Helena we had an appointment with the governor," Kirby said. "We had a chance to talk with him and tour the capitol."
Tijerina said she has found the SUNS program very helpful in all areas.
"The alternative school is a really nice program," she said. "You get a lot of one-on-one help. It's a lot of help if you're having difficulty (at the high school). It's not easier, just less stressful."
