“Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.” -Kid President
Service Learning is an important part of the character development at our school. Spending time thinking about others, indirectly helps students think about themselves. This year, the second grade class has developed a reoccurring partnership with San Jose Family Supportive Housing (SJ Family Shelter).
In the fall the students worked with their 8th grade buddies to make blankets for the residents. We had the opportunity to take a trip and tour the facility, while also delivering the blankets the students made. It helped the students connect their blanket making to real people. It has brought about many discussions.
While we were there in October, we met with the Volunteer Coordinator, Sara Tran, who expressed the need for travel toiletries for the residents. The second grade students took this need seriously and have collected many toiletries! The students were inspired to sort and graph their collection and this furthered interest in graphing. (More on that in a future post!) Both classes collected over 500 items! They were so proud of their collection and how many people they could help.
At the end of January the second graders met with an 8th grade advisory to make more than seventy
Valentine’s Day cards for the residents at the shelter. Ms. Tran told us that she plans to slip them under the doors of residents on Valentine’s Day. On February 1st, the second grade students and the 8th grade advisory returned to the shelter to deliver the bags and bags of toiletries they collected, the many cards they made, and to decorate the dining room for Valentine’s Day.
We are currently working with Ms. Tran to figure out a project our second grade students can help with in the spring. Open to suggestions!
Thank you to everyone who donated toiletries!
