News and information for staff members and the Madison community
Vol. II No. 3 - December 22, 2006
Black Hawk Spirit Club Champions Community Causes
By Jennifer Peters, Black Hawk French teacher, Spirit Club advisor
Black Hawk Spirit Club is part of the Black Hawk Middle Youth Resource Center of MSCR. The club is organized and run by Pat Gardner and Stacy Ackerman, and myself. The two-tiered club meets twice a week.
The Spirit of Leadership is comprised of 28 students that focus on school spirit, making decisions that affect the school, spirit days, dances, assemblies, and works in conjunction with the Spirit of Volunteerism. The Spirit of Volunteerism is comprised of 35 students and primarily focuses on community service and volunteerism.
This year's club has grown and is very popular at Black Hawk and in the community. Black Hawk Spirit member Emily says, "I feel proud; people are in need and we can help them."
Last year the club received a prestigious United Way Award of $1,000.00 to be used for this year's activities. This year the Spirit Club has had a successful food drive for the Kennedy Heights Community Center, and also went to the Vera Court Community Center to stuff Turkey Baskets for 88 families. The members are singing carols at the City View Nursing Home on December 20.
Some of the Spirit Club members are also taking turns walking a little dog for an elderly man in the Black Hawk community in the morning and afternoon. He was recently in a serious car accident and needs help. Once a month five different students from the club go and play Bingo with the seniors at NESCO, the North Eastside Senior Coalition.
Future activities include a towel and blanket drive for the Humane Society, visiting the Veterans at the Veteran's Hospital, donating stuffed animals and games, and we'll also visit children at the new Children's Hospital.
The Spirit Club recently wrote a grant for an AODA program called Project "A.C.E.". It stands for Awareness, Choices, and Empathy. One of the main projects students intend to use the $1,000 grant for is a "Senior Prom" for the senior citizens in the community. The May 18 event will feature The Bill Terry Orchestra playing big band music.
Lila, a Spirit Club member, says it best, "The reason why I joined this club is so that I can help people. Helping people makes me feel good inside."
Elsewhere around the MMSD...
Chavez El. — Chavez Elementary participated in the NBC 15 Share Your Holidays food drive from November 20 through December 6. Students competed to see which grade level could collect the most food. The food drive was a huge success. Thanks to parents, staff, and students, the school collected 5,898 items and was again the elementary school which collected the most food for the campaign. Students were invited to participate in the Share Your Holidays finale at the Alliant Energy Center.
Crestwood El. — Before Thanksgiving, needy Crestwood families were identified and contacted by our social worker Katie Larson-Klodd. Working through classroom teachers, individual classes helped make up food baskets with a turkey, which were then given to families the day before Thanksgiving. For the upcoming holiday, our staff donates money and then they take some needy Crestwood children shopping.
East HS — Madison East has various community outreach programs in place for the holiday season. The 9th Grade Congress is organizing a coat, mitten and sock drive. The 12th Grade Congress is conducting a food drive that includes the entire school. Books and school supplies will also be donated in conjunction with Starbucks.
The Beta Club works with the Meals on Wheels program year round. East is also planning two more blood drives and a Community Dinner later in the year. Eastside Pride entails giving during the holiday season and throughout the year.
Gompers El. — Our 4th and 5th graders are sponsoring a food drive with Second Harvest Food Bank in conjunction with Channel 15. It has been the students' project — to organize, promote and collect the food. They are proud to see three large, FULL barrels.
Hamilton MS — Hamilton Middle school 6th grade classes set a goal of 3,000 lbs of food for the food pantry. They raised 3,005 pounds to benefit Second Harvest. In addition, there is a toy drive and loose change drive sponsored by the Community Service Club to benefit children who are spending the holidays in the hospital. Jim Schneider is our contact person and heads up this club!
Lake View El. — Earlier this month, Lake View Elementary School collected 1,296 pounds of food, providing approximately 1,037 meals, during our annual Share the Holidays Food Drive in cooperation with Channel 15 and the Dane County Second Harvest Food Banks. Much thanks to our local Pierce's Northside Market for donating the bags.
Lakeview El. student senators braved the elements to pick up food contributions from the immediate neighborhood.
In addition to handing out bags to each student at school, members of Student Senate walked our immediate neighborhood, dropping bags at homes that no longer had children at Lake View. Despite the bitter cold, students went back to the homes, collecting fifty heavy bags of groceries to add to our food drive. Way to go, senators! This is another reason why Lake View School is a great place for learning.
Lapham El. — We collected 700 items in our Second Harvest Food Drive at Lapham School, run by our second grade "Make a Difference" team
Leopold El. — We make referrals the Empty Stocking Club, so our families in need get assistance receiving holiday gifts. This year, 95 students were referred to the program. We conduct an all-school food drive every year and donate to our local food pantries. The Community Service club spends time with the elderly at Sylvan Crossings, an assisted living facility, doing things like making snowmen decorations, gingerbread houses, and playing games together.
Our Friday Enrichment Cooking Club made and donated some gingerbread houses to Group Health Cooperative, as a thank you for their support for our families.
Memorial HS — Memorial high school students have already put together an impressive collection of contributions to the Madison community and to their school community this school year.
The Toys for Tots drive led by the Wolf Neighborhood and JMM Student Government resulted in an exciting $1,300 shopping spree at Toys R Us. During Homecoming Week, many student groups worked on the annual "Spartan Light of Life Walk" fundraiser. The 2-mile walk raised over $1,300 for Leukemia and Lymphoma Cancer research.
Students in the JMM Captain's Club helped out this Thanksgiving by fund-raising, then purchasing and delivering over $2,300 worth of Thanksgiving meals to 28 families. Other activities include, the Koats for Kids campaign and collecting pop-tops to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. JMM's Neighborhood Program has provided a focus for students to contribute to their community.
Sennett MS — Although many of Sennett's families were financially challenged this holiday season, their care and giving spirit shined through. Twenty-five coats were collected to share with our community, 100 letters were written to soldiers outside of Baghdad by some students in Houses 2 and 6, and a children's book project, "Books of Hope" was created by ELL students in Houses 1 and 4 to be sent to Kenyan orphanages before the holidays.
Pictured is Robin Weindruch, ESL teacher at Sennett, with
students in Houses 1 and 4 displaying their Book of Hope project sent to
Kenyan orphanages.
Through mid-December, students were involved in our 9th annual food drive which raised their compassionate awareness — as well as their competitive spirit. This event, spearheaded by student council, raised a total of 2,638 food items and declared the Hawker Homeroom the winner with 984 items! Our administration recognized their generosity and willingness to bring items to share at our school, and treated this winning homeroom to a homemade breakfast just prior to winter break.
Spring Harbor MS — We are participating in the Share Your Holidays Second Harvest Food Drive through student council. By December 21st, the leading homeroom had brought in 263 pounds of food, with the runner-up homeroom "weighing in" with 243 pounds. Prior to this year, the staff purchased a gift for every low-income student and staff delivered them to their homes. This year, we are doing a small Adopt-a-Family program.
Stephens El. — Stephens held a food drive and puts together baskets for Thanksgiving. We gave away 28 baskets to our families this year and donated the remainder of the food.
Last Updated: Tue Jan 16 10:27:11 2007
Comments: comments@madison.k12.wi.us
Web Publisher: Chris Burch, cburch@madison.k12.wi.us
Technical Issues: webmaster@madison.k12.wi.us