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I want to start this section off with some suggestions from Kristy, a reader on Instagram (@krittyreads).
She suggests:
1) “Find out if your school district has or can set up a “Princiapal’s Pantry at any of the schools. A Principal’s Pantry provides food for kids that would not have food over the weekend or school holidays.”
2) “Call your local food bank and see if they do a weekend backpack program for kids. Similar to the Principal’s Pantry but on a larger scale.”
3) “Google ‘crisis nursery’ in your area. A crisis nursery provides emergency childcare for any situation. They always need donations of food, cleaning supplies, diapers, etc. They also have opportunities to come and play with the children (after a background check, etc.)”
4) “Organize or participate in a school supply drive.” [Note from Ann: or change educational plans so that all school supplies are provided by the school.]
5) Find out if your local food pantry collect non-food items like laundry detergent, diapers, etc. Some do, and some don’t.”A few of my own thoughts… these are important bandaid measures. They are needed, and we find our way forward one step at a time. We also must be careful around the concept of “charity” to ensure we are not doing it to make ourselves feel better and someone else feel worse. What we ultimately need is system change, where for example people get paid a living wage for work, but that takes time. So we must each find out own way forward, and as long as it is always coming from a place of respect for those whose needs are not being meet, we will be making progress.
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Last year with the help of the other fourth grade teachers in my building, we began a Fourth Grade Leadership Group. We did a service project to benefit our community. Some things we did we Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank, Humane Society, Birthday Bags for Crisis Intervention, & The Cheer Fund. The Fourth Grade Leaders facilitated by me each month made posters, created parent notes, spoke to each class about the month long project, did updates on morning announcements, and organized the donations at the end of the month. We can not wait to get started when the students return in August. I should also mention that we are a Title 1 School who has 72% free and reduced lunch.
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Carol Ann – I love how student centered this sounds! Having students create parent notes and speak to other classes gives them so much power! It’s amazing what students can do when we give them the tools and BELIEVE in them!
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I agree! I love how student-centered this is! And I love that you included that your school has a such a high percentage of free/reduced lunch. It can be so empowering for students who have been on the receiving end of help to get to be the ones helping ones. Relationships should always be a two-way street, and you’re giving them the opportunity to feel the power of that!
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Along these lines, I would like to stock a feminine hygiene basket in each of the girls restrooms. This could be good for everyone, as sometimes it is embarrassing when you get caught unprepared. Especially in MS. I’m thinking that having some deodorant and face wipes would be nice as well. I also discussed having some of these items in the library as well. One of the things that struck me about Zoey was the way that she had to help her mom pick and choose what gets washed. She selflessly picked items for her siblings neglecting herself. This needs to change.
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I really like the idea of having a place for feminine hygiene products. I know girls can see our nurse to get things now, but sometimes it’s inconvenient or she may be out of the building. I don’t know that keeping them in a middle school bathroom is the best idea though. I could see some girls taking everything; however, I think it would be a GREAT idea to have some female teachers be contact points for supplies if needed.
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My students partner with The Night Ministry to feed 150 homeless people in Chicago near the school (South Shore area). This is an annual service learning opportunity they participate in to give back to their community. This year I am going to include giving toys to children in local hospitals, I know this will bring them joy and hopefully boosts their spirits during the holiday season.
Kimiko Pettis
@kcpteachertips
ELA 6th-8th grade
Chicago, IL -
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I can’t wait for my group’s first Project LIT meeting because I want to bring all these ideas to the students and community members. I am hoping we can start an action plan this year at school that is student-led, teacher facilitated, and includes our community members. CarolAnn – thank you for sharing you are a Title I school. This gives me hope since we are also a Title I school with 70% + free/reduced lunch.
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The first thing I think of is “What do my kids see a need for in our school already?” And I know that something that they see a need for is good recycling. My sister actually implemented change on her college campus related to recycling… Thinking aloud here, but I wonder if I could use her as a “special guest,” haha!
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–> ““What do my kids see a need for in our school already?”
I love this question! And yay for thinking outloud!
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Our area has a “secret boutique” where students are invited to “shop” for new or gently used, in style clothing. This is all run by volunteers and donations. It is an amazing organization!
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This is something I have wanted to get started for a while with my school and winter gear. Kids usually outgrow boots and snow pants each year. We go out for recess almost all winter days. I would like to have a place where families can donate old snow gear or create a snow gear swap. Something to plan for the future perhaps with the PTO.
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We are going to work with our district and local churches to help out homeless families in our district. We will host drives to get necessities and will help clean the places we have for these families to stay while they get back on their feet.
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The county I teach in has Community in Service positions. These people get businesses to provide food and other items for students’ and their families. Also, there are churches who donate backpacks and food to students and their families so they will have food over the weekend. Last year when I read The Benefits of Being an Octopus, we discussed how there are families in our county who are in need.
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I teach at a title 1 school in rural Georgia. All of our students receive free lunch and breakfast, but we do not have a principals pantry in place. I have always had a drawer in my classroom with items such as Easy Mac and granola bars, but you have inspired me to contact our local food bank to see if we can get a back pack program in place.
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I am so inspired by all of the ideas presented here. As a Literacy coach, my passion is to get books into the homes of the students and we have begun to go to the apartments and housing developments where many of our students live. I am realizing that homes without books are often those with difficulties providing meals and clothing, so as we take our next step to do literqcy workshops in the community, I’d like to pair with community partners to address the other, more life-sustaining needs of our students and their families.
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I would love to work with our food services to help students who need a meal after school hours. I have seen some posts on Facebook of school cafeterias packaging leftover lunches for students to take home. I know many students don’t eat until they come back for breakfast. It would utilize what the school would normally throw away as waste to benefit our students.
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Our district has a big push this year for more civics instruction, so I was hoping to get my class more involved in our community. There are a lot of farms in our town, but many students don’t understand how the agricultural industry impacts our community. I’m currently working on speaking with two farms and a restaurant (which provides farm to table food) to see if my students can visit and learn about how these industries fuel our local economy. Then, during Social Studies, when we discuss the economy, we can brainstorm ways in which we can help foster awareness about our town’s local economy.
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I would love to get a washer/dryer at our school so students who can’t get their clothes washed could have access and control. This is a big issue at my school. I’m just not sure how to implement this….
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Last Year we started a Boys Book Club at our school with myself and one of our Math Teachers Sponsoring it. It was a huge success, we read several books about real world situations that some of our kids were going to. We then partnered with our local battered womens shelter, to raise awarness and money for it. While our students were not able to meet any of the women or kids living in the facility for safety reasons they did get to meet with Police Officers and Social Workers who work with the families. This was a great opportunity for our boys who may or may not have father figures in their lives. It showed them the value in respecting women.
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