Stockton Elementary students give back
Fourth and fifth grade students participating in the Stockton Elementary School’s Anchored4Life leadership program have started a “Kindness Campaign” in which they suggest different ways that students can show kindness in the school and throughout the community, according to Jennifer Norton, a teacher at Stockton Elementary and one of the program’s sponsors. Filled with the spirit of the holiday season, teachers and students in kindergarten through fifth grade worked together to contribute to their community.
In November, Anchored4Life collected cans for The Salvation Army Can-U-Care campaign which provides food for low-income families. The students collected three barrels of food – almost 1,500 items – to donate. The students displayed more kindness and goodwill in December with their “Kindness Campaign” idea to send holiday cards to one another. The idea continued to grow with Anchored4Life members encouraging students around the school to make holiday cards for others. They ended up making 50 cards for two long-term care facilities and collected over 330 cards to give to the City Rescue Mission.
While Anchored4Life worked on a campaign of kindness and generosity, John Stockton Elementary’s Student Council in second through fifth grades completed their first service project. Student Council sponsors Jaime Greer and Angie Lechwar provided the students with a list of possible projects in August.
The members of the student council decided to give back to the people who give the most to them – their teachers. They compiled a list of things they thought teachers would need and want and then raised money to give supplies to new teachers in the surrounding area. They sold more than 1,000 Fall Grams to make six gift baskets for new teachers at West Riverside Elementary, Hyde Grove Elementary, Pinedale Elementary and Annie R. Morgan Elementary.
Individual classroom teachers decided on service projects as well. Fifth grade teacher Alicia Willis asked her students to donate hygienic supplies and food to the homeless community downtown. Students soon covered her table and chairs with items such as snacks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and toilet paper.
“It is fun but also we were saving lives,” said fifth grader William Kerns, who helped organize the donations.
Kindergarten teacher Alison Cooke told her students that they were going to work on doing kind things in December. She called these acts of kindness, “Kind Grinch Gifts,” after the character in the story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Ms. Cooke told students that the kind acts, during this special time of year, will represent ways they can grow the Grinch’s heart and their hearts too. The students came up with a long list of things on their own including donating new toys to the Toys for Tots program.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my students and teachers,” said Stephanie Brannon, school principal. I always knew they were kind and compassionate, but they never cease to amaze me. I am so honored to be their principal!”
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