District 54 students, staff making a difference during this time of giving

From food drives and coin collections to toy drives and schoolwide random acts of kindness campaigns, during this time of giving District 54 students and staff are focusing on serving others and making a difference in their school, community and beyond.

"Their parents, along with our entire community, can be proud of the passion and dedication that our students have for helping those who are in need," Superintendent Andy DuRoss said. "I'm grateful to work in a school district where we support each other and also embrace the community beyond the school doors."

Acts of Kindness

In conjunction with their November and December theme of kindness, all District 54 junior high schools and Lincoln Prairie's middle-level students are taking on a challenge led by their school's Student Ambassadors and inspired by Westjet's 12,000 mini miracles day. Student Ambassadors challenged their schools to complete at least as many acts of kindness as there are people in the school.

"Every school is doing something a little different, but it's all centered around doing kind things for others," said District 54 Instructional Coach Ming Shelby, who is working with the Student Ambassadors.

At Mead Junior High, the kindness initiative is called Mead Meaningful Moments.

"Making someone's day can take just a moment," said Sophia, a Mead Student Ambassador.

When a Mead student or staff member engages in an act of kindness, they write it on a Mustang card, which says "I made someone feel like somebody by…," and hang these cards up around the school.

The Mead Student Ambassadors planned two kindness activities each week for all students and staff, such as writing kind notes to put on cars, organizing and decorating the District 54 Food Pantry at Mead, and writing notes to community supporters.

"We think everyone has kindness in their hearts, so we want to bring that out," said Stefania, a Mead Student Ambassador.

Keller Junior High's kindness campaign calls for students, staff and parents to Pay it Forward by Wrapping Keller in Happiness. When someone completes an act of kindness, they write it on an arrow which is hung up in the hallway; the goal is for the arrows to eventually wrap all the way around the school.

During an all-school Pay it Forward assembly on December 7, the Keller Student Ambassadors and Rotary Interact Club shared examples of acts of kindness that had been completed to date. These included a staff member sorting food at the Woodfield Area Children's Organization food drive and a student calling his grandparents daily to see how they were doing.

Helping families in need

Schools throughout District 54 are participating in a variety of activities to support financially struggling families in our community during the holidays.

Many have put up Giving Trees where families can take a name tag for someone in need at their school and purchase a gift for that person. There have been mitten drives, holiday shopping events, and collections for the District 54 Food Pantry and Community Closet, among other activities.

For example, the Student Council at MacArthur International Spanish Academy has been busy collecting items for the District 54 Food Pantry at Keller Junior High. On Dec. 17, council members will visit the pantry to unpack the boxes and stock the shelves with food.

"At the Keller pantry, families who don't have a lot of food or money can go there and select items," said Cailin, a member of the MacArthur Student Council. "Our theme at MacArthur is happiness and orange, and we're giving that chance to be happy to other people."

Helping beyond our community

District 54 students are also supporting others beyond the District 54 boundaries. While all schools are doing some type of charitable activity this year, some examples are shared below.

Earlier this month the upstairs hallway at Link Elementary School was filled with stuffed animals, games and toys, and members of Link's Student Government were hard at work sorting them into bags and boxes. Link students, staff and families donated the items for children at a school in Englewood.

"We have all these things, and we know other schools don't have what we have. We have so much and can give back," said Nishanth, a Link Student Government member.

"We're trying to bring them the joy of toys," added Azlan, another Student Government member.

At Collins, all fifth- and sixth-grade students recently helped their community while making a difference for residents of Misericordia Heart of Mercy, a home for people with developmental disabilities.

The students raised more than $5,000 by completing tasks in the community such as raking leaves, walking dogs and shoveling snow. About 150 students then went shopping and purchased items for Misericordia residents such as clothes, toys, movies and video games which the residents could keep for themselves or gift to others.

"The service learning meant a lot to me because its nice to shop for others rather than yourselves, and the nice part is I didn't think of myself at all during the shopping," said Katie, a fifth-grade student. "I was just thinking about if the residents at Misericordia would enjoy the gifts my group and I picked out for them. Service learning made me feel really warm inside to know the residents will be able to get gifts and feel the same we feel every Christmas when we get to open and give our gifts."

At Aldrin Elementary School, the Quantum Ambassadors recently wrapped up a coin drive for students at an elementary school in Florida that was devastated by Hurricane Michael.

Aldrin teacher Alison Leja had heard from a teacher at Oakland Terrace School for the Arts in Panama City that the money for the school's fifth-grade field trip to the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee was instead going toward repairing the school. Aldrin's Ambassadors held a coin drive to help the Florida students go on their field trip.

"It really hit me when they said the money for their field trip was going to be used to fix their school," said Riya, a Quantum Ambassador.

"For some of those kids, it would be their first time to get out of the city where they live," said Aysha, also a Quantum Ambassador.

"We wanted to help the community and the students after what they went through," Aldrin student Leila said.

The goal was for the Aldrin coin drive to raise $250. Instead, they collected $500, which they are sending to the school with a letter signed by all of the Quantum Ambassadors.

"The buildings are just bursting with kindness and positivity as everyone comes together in service to others," Shelby said.

Visit https://youtu.be/Am4siLuVoSw to watch a video spotlighting service projects in District 54!