By Michelle Durham

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Students at a South Philadelphia public school were participating in a special event today to raise money for children their own age in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The air was electric today inside the gymnasium at the Meredith School as the children gathered to watch the Neumann-Goretti and College All-Star basketball players strut their stuff on the court.

“We each pay five dollars for Haiti so they can go to school,” explained ten-year-old Olivia.

The $5 donation allowed students to watch this game.   But to watch the second game — students vs. faculty — students had to contribute $10.

(Eighth grade teacher Kelly Schaaf. Credit: Michelle Durham)

The fundraiser was the idea of eighth-grade teacher Kelly Schaaf (right), who traveled to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.

“It was also the first time that I had seen that kind of poverty — abject poverty — that just inspired me to do whatever I could to help them out,” she told KYW Newsradio today.