Serena Liu

Sharing our Successes Working on a presentation, sophomores Keith Schultz, Andrew Son, and Insang Lee plan upcoming fundraising events for Pencils for Success (PFS). After he heard about the charity in September, Lee founded a St. Louis chapter of PFS. “Helping out others just makes you feel good [because] it makes you feel like you accomplished something that could affect more people than just you,” Lee said.

Sophomore Insang Lee first heard about Pencils for Success (PFS), an Atlanta-based organization providing underprivileged students with school supplies, from his sister. Instantly inspired, Lee started a new chapter in St. Louis and took on the role of chapter president in September. Then, he contacted his four closest friends — including sophomore Andrew Son — to build the new club. 

The goal of PFS is to give out donations such as test preparation books, notebooks, binders, and of course, pencils to students who cannot access these essential school supplies. In addition, the St. Louis chapter hopes to improve education in the community, even beyond our school district.

“Everyone has the potential to succeed, but right now, students who are struggling don’t have the same opportunities or resources to do so. So we want to provide the resources for students to succeed and have a brighter future [and] give the opportunity that we’ve received to them,” Lee said.

While Parkway West provides resources such as our counseling page, many other students do not have the same essential information about careers, scholarships, schools, and more. This inhibits many students from reaching their full potential. Son and Lee aim to share the same resources that helped them academically with other students in the St. Louis area. 

“To me, helping others means giving back to the community for what you receive. West High School is a good community [because] they offer so many resources. Our goal is to give students the resources that we have. [Volunteering] helps you realize that sharing is a very important thing that many people keep forgetting. Sharing is a necessity in our society to strive forward and make the future of our society and the future generation better,” Son said.

Currently, Son’s role involves acting as a secondary treasurer and recruiting more members to join and grow the club. In addition, he has volunteered his time towards creating posters and presentations urging more people to become part of PFS.

“To be honest, I didn’t have many friends in elementary school. So since elementary school, my whole world was mostly about sharing with others and sharing their joy with mine. So helping others makes me happy,” Son said. 

Meanwhile, Lee is volunteering to make sure the new PFS chapter launches smoothly and has contacted Athletic and Activities Director Brian Kessler to help finalize the club and set goals. In addition, Lee wants to donate SAT and ACT preparation books to kids who cannot afford them.

“I guess sharing just kind of comes naturally to me because I have siblings. You end up having to share, even if it’s the computer or something that we can’t all use at the same time. You end up learning how to share with the people around you. So, our goal [is] to help our community even outside the school or school district,” Lee said. 

Many adults in the building have also shared their time to establish this new chapter. After their planned sponsor had to drop out, English teacher Andria Benmuvhar stepped in to sponsor the club. She encouraged Lee and Son to partner with Key Club to spread the word about PFS and inspire new members to join. Lee hopes that as PFS grows, it can have a more significant impact around St. Louis.

“It might be a big goal since we’re just starting, but we hope almost 100 percent of St. Louis’ population has at least a little bit of education or the opportunity to get the education that they need,” Lee said.