Honor students at Maspeth High School are coming together to build a library in Africa, one book at a time.
NY1's Clodagh McGowan introduces us our Queens People of the Week.

 

Senior Anda Stafa says her classmates didn't have to look far for inspiration when they decided they wanted to give back to other students.

"We're surrounded by books all the time. I mean, we go to a classical high school and this school is very big on reading and annotating books,"said Stafa.

Stafa is the president of Maspeth High School's National Honor Society.

At the beginning of the school year, the group teamed up with the African Library Project to collect books for a school in Ghana.

"They're limited to the access of books so it'd be great for them to actually have something,"said student Melissa Alonso.

It’s been going so well, the students have surpassed their goal of collecting more than a thousand books.

"So, we have books for little children, we have like picture books, we also have books for middle schoolers that are more advanced and we have books for high schoolers,"said Student Leonela Tutsig.

Grace Polson is the teacher advisor for the group. Boxes of donated books are taking over her classroom -- but she knows when they're delivered next month it means a new adventure for the students in Ghana.

"A single book from // every parent in this school can really go a long way to make a library in Ghana. A thousand books is just a small portion of what we have at Maspeth high school," said Polson.

Going forward the students hope to make the book drive an annual event. They hope Maspeth High School's global library will continue growing long after they graduate

"Hopefully in the future we'll be able to have students take a trip to Africa to meet those students we've gotten books for,"said Stafa.

And so, for turning the page and starting a new chapter for kids in Ghana, these Maspeth High School students are our Queens People of the Week.