Post by richardkelsey on Apr 10, 2008 12:16:25 GMT -5
Posted with a little godfather pride
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Freehold teens look to fill empty pantries
FREEHOLD — What was meant to be a small food drive in one eighth-grade class has snowballed into a districtwide effort to fight hunger in the Freehold community.
"It has grown into a monstrous force," wrote Ian Kelsey, one of the drive's organizers, in an e-mail.
"I'm impressed with them," said Paula Desch, an eighth-grade humanities teacher at Freehold Intermediate School, of her students. "It's nice to see kids coming together for something positive."
Project Pantry, the drive coordinated by 19 of Desch's students, originated from classroom discussions about the American Civil War. The class focused on the Indiana Sanitary Commission, an early version of the Red Cross that distributed clothing, food, bedding and other goods needed by soldiers.
To provide modern-day aid and reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom, Desch assigned students the task of holding a food drive. Originally meant to involve just that class, her students quickly came up with a more ambitious plan.
"We thought, "Why not make it huge?' " said Ambar Feliz, 13, who coordinated the effort with Kelsey.
"Poverty is something that touches all of us. We were really striving to make a difference," added Kelsey, 14.
The two teens and their classmates decided to expand the drive throughout the Freehold School District's three schools: Freehold Intermediate, Park Avenue Elementary and the Freehold Learning Center.
Students kicked off the drive on April 3, and it will continue until April 18.
The collected food and other items, such as disposable diapers and toothpaste, will be donated to the Freehold Area Open Door, a food pantry on Throckmorton Street.
Open Door serves an average of 300 households every month, said Jeanne Yaecker, the food pantry's director. Falling between major food drives, the school district's collection will help restock shelves that were beginning to empty, she said.
"It (the donation) will certainly be put to good use," Yaecker added.
To spark their fellow students' interest, Desch's class worked together to get its message out in creative ways.
Students created a slide show of photographs showing poverty-stricken people mixed with statistics detailing the number of people who live in poverty and are going hungry — nearly 3.5 million people in the United States went hungry or lived "on the edge of hunger" in 2002, according to one slide.
The slideshow was aired during morning announcements at Freehold Intermediate on April 3. Feliz and Kelsey also appeared during a brief commercial to explain the drive and encourage students to participate.
Desch's students also created fliers and posters written in English and Spanish, which they hung in the three schools.
And students — wearing white T-shirts proclaiming "Project Pantry" — distributed more than 100 brightly-decorated boxes on April 3, speaking briefly with each class as they did so.
"Anything you can give is good," Kelsey said. "Any large amount, any little amount. Just give it."
As added motivation, prizes are in the works to reward the class and/or school that collects the most donations.
Desch's class has put a lot of effort into the drive, at times staying after school or working through lunch to make sure the boxes and other materials were ready by the kick-off deadline.
"Most of us are very committed to it," said Parul Khosla, 13.
The level of dedication shown by her students has impressed Desch, she said.
The assignment was part of a new push in the humanities classes this year to incorporate project-based learning. When Desch first told students about the drive, she had no idea it would blossom into something this large.
"They superseded my expectations," Desch said.
After clocking in so many hours of effort, on kick-off day, students just seemed relieved that the drive had gone off as planned.
"It took a lot of work," began Kelsey.
"But it paid off," Feliz finished.
www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/NEWS01/804100628/1285/LOCAL09
Freehold teens look to fill empty pantries
FREEHOLD — What was meant to be a small food drive in one eighth-grade class has snowballed into a districtwide effort to fight hunger in the Freehold community.
"It has grown into a monstrous force," wrote Ian Kelsey, one of the drive's organizers, in an e-mail.
"I'm impressed with them," said Paula Desch, an eighth-grade humanities teacher at Freehold Intermediate School, of her students. "It's nice to see kids coming together for something positive."
Project Pantry, the drive coordinated by 19 of Desch's students, originated from classroom discussions about the American Civil War. The class focused on the Indiana Sanitary Commission, an early version of the Red Cross that distributed clothing, food, bedding and other goods needed by soldiers.
To provide modern-day aid and reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom, Desch assigned students the task of holding a food drive. Originally meant to involve just that class, her students quickly came up with a more ambitious plan.
"We thought, "Why not make it huge?' " said Ambar Feliz, 13, who coordinated the effort with Kelsey.
"Poverty is something that touches all of us. We were really striving to make a difference," added Kelsey, 14.
The two teens and their classmates decided to expand the drive throughout the Freehold School District's three schools: Freehold Intermediate, Park Avenue Elementary and the Freehold Learning Center.
Students kicked off the drive on April 3, and it will continue until April 18.
The collected food and other items, such as disposable diapers and toothpaste, will be donated to the Freehold Area Open Door, a food pantry on Throckmorton Street.
Open Door serves an average of 300 households every month, said Jeanne Yaecker, the food pantry's director. Falling between major food drives, the school district's collection will help restock shelves that were beginning to empty, she said.
"It (the donation) will certainly be put to good use," Yaecker added.
To spark their fellow students' interest, Desch's class worked together to get its message out in creative ways.
Students created a slide show of photographs showing poverty-stricken people mixed with statistics detailing the number of people who live in poverty and are going hungry — nearly 3.5 million people in the United States went hungry or lived "on the edge of hunger" in 2002, according to one slide.
The slideshow was aired during morning announcements at Freehold Intermediate on April 3. Feliz and Kelsey also appeared during a brief commercial to explain the drive and encourage students to participate.
Desch's students also created fliers and posters written in English and Spanish, which they hung in the three schools.
And students — wearing white T-shirts proclaiming "Project Pantry" — distributed more than 100 brightly-decorated boxes on April 3, speaking briefly with each class as they did so.
"Anything you can give is good," Kelsey said. "Any large amount, any little amount. Just give it."
As added motivation, prizes are in the works to reward the class and/or school that collects the most donations.
Desch's class has put a lot of effort into the drive, at times staying after school or working through lunch to make sure the boxes and other materials were ready by the kick-off deadline.
"Most of us are very committed to it," said Parul Khosla, 13.
The level of dedication shown by her students has impressed Desch, she said.
The assignment was part of a new push in the humanities classes this year to incorporate project-based learning. When Desch first told students about the drive, she had no idea it would blossom into something this large.
"They superseded my expectations," Desch said.
After clocking in so many hours of effort, on kick-off day, students just seemed relieved that the drive had gone off as planned.
"It took a lot of work," began Kelsey.
"But it paid off," Feliz finished.
