SCHOOLS AID KATRINA VICTIMS BUCKETS OF CHANGE, FISTFULS OF DOLLARS COME FROM KIDS.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Students across the valley kicked off a series of fundraisers Friday, emptying their piggy banks and pockets to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Rio Norte Junior High eighth-graders Chandler Patton and Marissa Hamilton, both 13, emptied a large plastic bag filled with coins into a five-gallon plastic water bottle in the school's front office.

Hamilton crafted a makeshift funnel out of a flier to guide coins dropped by the fistful by Patton. As the girls worked, Ashlee Bahr, 13, brought them another bag of money.

Student body director Ron Ippolito encouraged students lined up near another water bottle to ``fill it up.'' Associated Student Body leaders said that two small trash cans put out in the morning for parents to make donations when they dropped off their children were already full.

``We've been watching the news and tons of kids and teachers came to me asking what we could do,'' Ippolito said. ``We raised $1,000 for tsunami victims in January, so I thought we could do something similar. This time the crisis is in America. It's our own people and we can do better.''

The students are raising money to help a family of six that left New Orleans with only the clothes on their back, driving west for a new start. Through the school's network of friends and supporters, the family will arrive Sunday and move into a house provided temporarily by a local real estate agent, furnished with donated couches and beds and equipped with basic toiletries and food.

``We sent out a phone message yesterday about this family,'' Rio Norte Principal John Krinkel said. ``We were immediately inundated with donations, people who had an extra couch or a rollaway bed and other furniture. Our hope is that we can give them a $1,000 check from Rio Norte and a $300 gift card to the grocery store.''

Donations exceeding the $1,000 mark will be sent to a charity in the city of Lafayette, La., where many of the refugees are relocating.

``It is so hard for me to accept that word, refugees, in my own country,'' Krinkel said.

Saugus High School's ASB and Sunshine Club began collecting donations for immediate help and plans to adopt a high school in Biloxi or New Orleans and provide long-term assistance.

Collections also are being taken up at Canyon High, where buckets will be put out every third period through Friday, and at Arroyo Seco Junior High, where students are encouraged to bring in dollars to help the relief efforts.

West Ranch High School students were asked to bring in $1 each on Friday morning in the hopes of raising $1,500; that total was doubled by the time classes began.

At Bowman High School, proceeds from campus soda machines will be donated to hurricane relief.

``ASB students will be spreading the word all week, letting students know how they can help those in need simply by purchasing a drink,'' adviser Michael Coombe said.

Valencia High School students collected more than $1,000 by the end of school Friday; collection buckets will be out on campus throughout the week.

Valencia band director Bob Babko is organizing a tribute to the music of New Orleans to be performed by the marching band that will be tied to fundraising efforts to bring the jazz back to New Orleans.

Placerita Junior High is teaming with Meadows Elementary to collect money, placing containers not just in the classrooms and offices, but in businesses surrounding each school.

Learning Post independent study students are working on fundraising plans, as are the ASBs of Hart and Golden Valley high schools.

``I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of the district to our generous students for all they are doing to assist the unfortunate victims of Hurricane Katrina,'' Hart Superintendent Jaime Castellanos said. ``This mobilization of our student bodies is a true testament to the type of character that the students of this district represent.''

Elementary schools also jumped into action Friday, many of them organizing collections on campus and sending fliers home to ask parents to donate to the cause. Donations to the American Red Cross may be made at Bouquet Canyon, Cedarcreek, Highlands, Northpark, Santa Clarita, Bridgeport, Helmers and Skyblue Mesa elementary schools in the Saugus district.

In addition, Plum Canyon is holding a ``Nickels for New Orleans'' collection and Skyblue Mesa is working with a school superintendent in Louisiana to find a school where young flood victims will be housed and provide them with basic school supplies.

In the Newhall School District, collections for the Red Cross are being taken at Stevenson Ranch and Valencia Valley schools; in the Sulphur Springs District, donations to the Red Cross may be made at Fair Oaks Ranch, Leona Cox, Sulphur Springs and Valley View schools.

``The kids see this on television and this is a coping skill for them,'' Valley View Principal Gail Abril said. ``This is the right thing to do.''

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.coM

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Claire Fredrickson, left, and Victoria Balta drop change into a water jug Friday at Rio Norte Junior High School to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

(2) Marlee Feinholz of Rio Norte Junior High drops change into a collection jug. Students across the Santa Clarita Valley rallied to raise funds to help hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast.

David Crane/Staff Photographer