CRENSHAW Project - Fall 2015
Throughout the month, I was tweeting with Crenshaw author, Katherine Applegate. Below are some of her responses. Please click on an image to view the gallery.
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After reading an advance copy of Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate, Ms. Garland's fifth graders were called upon to assist with the organization, and day-to-day activities associated with a month-long food drive to benefit the Chittenden County Emergency Food Shelf.
We partnered with Phoenix Books for this project. They have two locations in our areas. Katherine Applegate promised to donate $100 towards childhood hunger efforts for every independent bookstore that joined in her nationwide food drive.
In early October, at a whole school morning meeting, students presented their research about childhood hunger in a slide show. They displayed posters they created that would be hung throughout the school. The plan was for each wing in the school to donate food items for one week, starting with an example set by students in the 4th and 5th grades. The following week, 2nd and 3rd graders were to donate items. The third week was set aside for kindergarten and 1st grade students. During the final week of the food drive, all classes were asked to donate again. This was the opportunity for all staff members to help out as well. For each food item that was donated, an "I Donated" sticker was placed on a giant cat display in the library. Each day, Ms. Garland's fifth graders gathered food items from the wings, counted them, and updated for the Crenshaw display. Please click on the images below to view a gallery of how our Crenshaw filled in. |
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We were thrilled to have received a personal message from Katherine Applegate, the author of Crenshaw. (I'm sorry that the video seems to automatically loop on this webpage. To stop the loop, please right click on the image and deselect "Loop.")
After Mrs. Macdonald played the surprise message, students in the morning meeting assembly cheered. It was so thoughtful of Ms. Applegate to acknowledge our school's efforts for the food drive! Next up would be a visit to the food shelf to bring our donated items. |
Ms. Garland's class loaded a school bus with our food items. Orchard's principal, Mr. Trifilio, joined us on the trip. Below is a slide show of images. We found out that the total weight of our 1115 items was 1130 pounds! We are so proud of our efforts to help feed hungry children in our community!