GREENSBORO -- They came together after a devastating fire forced them out of their school. Now students at Eastern Guilford High School are getting a helping hand from an unexpected source.

They're many years away from high school, but Mr. Snider's 2nd grade class at Sedalia Elementary have already learned a valuable, and at times, frightening lesson.

Images of the fire at Eastern Guilford High School on November 1 still haunt them.

“A lot of students have a brother or sister that goes to Eastern,” Snider explained.

“After we heard the news about Eastern Guilford High, we knew we had to do something to help,” one student said.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

That something turned into a call to action. Instead of opening their books, students and teachers were asked to open their wallets.

“My mommy gave me $5 and my daddy gave me $7,” said 2nd grader Brianna Rascoe.

“I robbed my piggy bank,” Jack Smith, a 2nd grader, said. “I just went like, ‘Alright piggy bank, let’s see what you got’ and I poured it all out."

In total they raised more than $2,000 and teachers from EGHS were on hand Thursday to accept the heartfelt help.

“Nothing has touched me as much as your work and your gift and the look on your faces,” one teacher said.

But possibly no one was more touched than teacher Thomas Hefner who brought his annual science show from Eastern Guilford to Sedalia every year.

“I appreciate this, this $3 here,” he said.

Despite the tears, it was a happy day for this group and a lesson these youngsters will never forget.

“Whenever something happens in the community you really need to help them out,” 2nd grader Kyle Conover added.

Snider’s 2nd graders raised the most money of any other classroom at Sedalia Elementary totaling $302.