Dialog reporter
Giulia Randazzo and Sophia Stafford started school chapter of She’s the First with others in mind
MAGNOLIA — Two young ladies receiving a fine education in central Delaware are hoping to provide the same opportunity to girls in other parts of the world.
Giulia Randazzo and Sophia Stafford, juniors at St. Thomas More Academy in Magnolia, have formed a school chapter of She’s the First, which is dedicated to giving girls in Third World countries scholarships and grants so they can go to school. Stafford said friends at Dover High School started a chapter, inspiring her and Randazzo to do the same.
“We’re both really into education and women’s rights. We’re such a small school, and we wanted to see how we could make a difference with such a big problem in other countries,” she said.
Randazzo, the president, researched organizations before finding She’s the First. She set up a meeting with the president of the Dover High School chapter, Ali, Guckes, who attended Holy Cross School with the two St. Thomas More girls. They talked about doing some things together since the Dover chapter has the numbers St. Thomas More lacks.
The national organization approved the St. Thomas More chapter in January. Randazzo and Stafford, the vice president, spent the early months of 2017 planning a few fundraisers, including a movie night and a tag day.
“We may not have a lot of people, but usually people participate,” Randazzo said of St. Thomas More.
Thirteen students at St. Thomas More are in the She’s the First chapter; of those, 11 are girls. All students are required to fulfill 25 hours of community service, and Stafford said she spent a lot of time looking for a way to do that.
“It’s hard to find something you want to continuously do for 25 hours,” she said. “I was looking for the past three years for what I would actually enjoy doing. I feel like She’s the First is the perfect organization because it’s something that I do believe is important, and it’s something that we can leave here at St. Thomas More and help grow.”
Stafford lives in Milford, where she is a member of St. John the Apostle Parish. Randazzo, who attends St. Jude Parish in Lewes, drives to Magnolia every day from Milton. Each had other options when it came to choosing a high school after graduating from Holy Cross, but they like St. Thomas More.
Stafford, who had an older sister attend the school, said she likes the small-school atmosphere. She sees friends no matter where she walks, and the small student body forces her to get involved in several things.
“You need everyone to do everything, so it’s real easy to be well-rounded, which is really good for college,” she said.
Randazzo checked out Sussex Academy, which would have been a shorter commute, “but something about here just struck me a little bit more, and I was hoping I could get a lot more involved here that I would at (Sussex Academy).”
Both girls are involved in Model UN and went to New York City in March for the national competition. Sophia plays for the Ravens’ lacrosse and softball teams, and both girls have played other sports in the past. Randazzo is a member of student government and the art club.
Both will return next year as seniors and will be involved in She’s the First, but they have younger students at St. Thomas More preparing to carry on the mission once they graduate.
“We’re still in the beginning stages. We’re still trying to get more awareness. People really don’t know what it is. The people that are in the organization now are really passionate about the organization – not just the organization but the cause,” Stafford said.
