Canned Food Drive Surpasses Expectations!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving Mrs. Brodeur's first grade and Mrs. Mabe's fifth grade hosted a school-wide canned food drive that far surpassed expectations. The problem was introduced in the form of a PBL lesson where students were given the real life scenario that the Second Harvest Food Bank was running short of food during a time of great demand for area families. Students were asked to analyze the problem, and come up with realistic solutions which translated into a school-wide canned food drive. From there, ideas to make it a success evolved in student groups all working on a community service project that incorporated reading, writing, math, and social studies, technology and information skills, and health.
Students developed a video commercial which was posted on Mrs. Brodeur's website, a post was placed on her class blog, and a competition between classes was designed to help increase participation with the promise of a popcorn party awarded to the class that collected the most items. Ideas to share the news on morning announcements and via posters, and in our school's Tuesday bulletin were all generated by the students.
For two weeks students brought in canned goods and non-perishable foods. Between 1,000 and 1,500 cans and items were collected. Items continued to come in well past the deadline and more large donation boxes were placed in the front lobby to accommodate the overflow. By the end of the drive seven boxes were filled with food to help those in need. Fore more information on The Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina go to http://hungernwnc.org/. Although Kimmel Farm Elementary is no longer working on a formal project you can still help individually! Thanks to all who contributed and Happy Thanksgiving to all from the Kimmel Farm family!