Issaquah students raise money to free 120 enslaved people

When Eric Ensey traveled to India this year, he shook the hand of a man who was freed from bonded labor by the money his teenage students had raised in Sammamish.

"If you hadn't helped us," the Indian millworker told the American middle-school teacher, "we would have died in the rice mill."

Fundraisers for charity are a staple of school life, but Ensey and his students have taken that work in an unusual direction by raising tens of thousands of dollars to help free enslaved people, many living half a world away.

The teens in this well-to-do suburban area have learned about families working in brick kilns in India and brothels in Cambodia where children their own age — and even younger — are sold into slavery.

"I count my blessings, because they're in such a bad place," said eighth-grader Nellie Hoehl, one of Ensey's students at Pine Lake Middle School.

Last year, three Issaquah district schools — Pine Lake, Issaquah High and Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus — together raised $50,000 for the International Justice Mission (IJM), a Washington, D.C., charity that seeks justice for the poor in developing countries. It's the largest donation the IJM has received from a public-school district, and was used to free about 120 enslaved people.

"Pine Lake really is kind of our shining star," said Brian Cress, the Bellevue-based West Coast director of development for IJM. "It's pretty amazing what they're doing."

The idea of raising money to free slaves was hatched several years ago, when Ensey got to thinking about the community-service work required of students taking his humanities-plus class, and those in the school's honor society. He wondered what might happen if that energy was channeled into a single cause.

Ensey, Pine Lake math teacher Kristen Little and student-government adviser Roy Cress (whose brother is Brian Cress of IJM) worked with Jon Whitney, a world-history teacher at Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus, to help students launch the fundraiser.

The cause blossomed beyond their wildest expectations. In 2007, the schools raised $16,000. In 2008, they raised $50,000, the money coming from donations made in change, checks, and through ticket sales of a concert by Seattle indie rock band Barcelona.

IJM is a faith-based organization, and its founder, Gary Haugen, is an evangelical Christian. When Ensey brought the cause to Pine Lake, he said, he was upfront about the organization. He received approval from the Issaquah School District to raise money.

"The word 'mission' doesn't stand for missionary," he said. "It stands for rescue, and the religious aspect doesn't play a role."

Although the IJM fundraiser is student-led, it's clear that Ensey, 40, a language arts/social studies teacher, plays a powerful role in orchestrating its success.

The lanky, 6-foot, 4-inch teacher has a shock of reddish-blond hair and an easy, informal relationship with his students, who often call him by his last name, shouting "Hey, Ensey!" to get his attention. They say what makes Ensey so inspiring is the value he places on their opinions and ideas, and the way he relates to them.

"He's like a little kid, but way taller — more like a friend than a teacher," said eighth-grader Kylee Brown.

Raising thousands of dollars for charity is hard work.

For 10 weeks this spring, about 50 students arrived at school early each Wednesday to paint signs, write letters, sell concert tickets and plan collection dates to raise money for the IJM. That work is going on right now, and ends May 14.

"Everybody talks about it, even when it's not fundraising time," said eighth-grader Angela Moran.

This year, the money raised will be split equally between the IJM and Seattle Children's, to make a difference both locally and globally, Ensey said.

In February, Ensey traveled with IJM members to India, "one of the most powerful things I've ever done in my life."

Ensey brought back stories of grinding poverty, human-rights abuses and slavery.

The fundraising campaign has prompted his students to ask questions about fair labor practices. They wonder about the factories where their clothes were made, or if their soccer balls are the product of sweat shops.

Eighth-grader Jamie Moseley, who wants to become a lawyer, has thought about the legal profession in a new way after learning prosecutors in third-world countries imprison the culprits of the slave trade. Moran can see herself working for a nonprofit one day.

It's even changed the way they think about money when they go shopping.

"Every time I go to buy something," said eighth-grader Casey Kovarik, "I think there's something better I could do with the money."

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com