Spicewood Elementary School “Through small actions, everyone can make a difference.”– Gandhi
The IB program encourages students to explore issues, perspectives and ideas both locally and globally. In 5th grade, the students watch CNN 10 for Kids daily, learning more about current events happening here in the United States, but also around the world. These ten minute daily videos spark classroom discussions, debates and often student action. This week, we’re sharing how a small group of students was motivated to do something about the issues they saw. We’re confident you’ll be inspired by their action and want to do something yourself!
5th Grade students leading the charge! –Nghi, Leah, Morgan
What inspired you to take action?
One day we were watching CNN 10 and saw the effects of Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Florence. People had no homes and food. I knew I just didn’t want to “just sit there”. There was so much suffering we had to do something about it.
What made you decide to take action and put together a food drive?
Last year, in fourth grade, I started a food drive in my classroom. I learned a lot from doing that food drive like how to convince people to contribute to your drive and how to organize and deliver materials.
Can you share more about your process for letting people know about your food drive?
At first we just started the food drive in our classroom. Our teacher, Ms. Schuster, helped us get a box and set it up in the classroom. We weren’t getting many donations from my classmates (we were the only ones who had donated anything) so we thought that if we could make it a grade level food drive we would be able to collect more. We made a signs to put up in the 5th grade portable and also made a video. In our video we used a green screen and also made it a little funny to get students engaged and interested in the food drive. We wanted our video to make people feel good and be peaceful. After that video showed on broadcast, we started to get a lot more donations! The box was so heavy we had to bring the donations home little by little. We loved how much support we got with our food drive!
What do you think you learned because of the experience?
We learned that friends can be a support to you and how to convince people to take action. “Taking action is actually really easy, you just need to put your mind and heart into it. We also learned that if you choose to do something you need to stick with it. We used an open mind to think about how we could get more donations and it worked.
Why do you think it’s important for students to take action?
It’s important for students to take action because students can “spark change”. Kids inspire each other because they listen to what each other as to say.
What message do you have for our community?
We want people to know that even doing something little it still makes a difference. It may not feel like it at first, but it really does do something. We’d also like people to think about ways they can help and donate to people who need food. The Central Texas Food Bank accepts donations all of the time. Think about the people who are suffering and how fortunate you are. How can we help them? We’ll probably be having another food drive later, maybe near the holidays, so that people can have food and enjoy that time of year with their families.
Thank you ladies for continuing to inspire and remind us the importance of taking action with our learning, and as we move into a new week, we hope that these three girls inspire YOU to do your small part to make the world a better place!