Gift #4...and helping to build a school

Seeing that it is the season of giving, I've decided to help build a school...well my school has decided to help build a school. After a group of our students attended WE day this year, we have decided to start a school wide fundraising campaign, called "Brick by Brick", through the FREE the Children organization.

In many places, education is sadly taken for granted. I know most of my students would be ecstatic if they were told that they no longer needed to attend school, unfortunately for too many children around the world education is a luxury that is simply not available. There is no school to attend, no books to read, and no pencils with which to write.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

- Nelson Mandela

By raising money, we are hoping to provide an education to children in impoverished countries, by helping build them an actual school...one brick at a time. To provide a visual for the students there are posters all over the school stating:

1 brick = $20,
500 bricks = 1 school

Each homerooms' goal is $120, but seeing that I am very passionate about this cause, and also an extremely competitive person, I want to surpass that and win the prize for most money raised by one class.

So here is the plan we came up with to meet/surpass our goal:

Donations - I asked each student to write on a piece of paper, how much money they thought they would be capable of bringing in. I told them it did not matter how much, just to be honest. I totaled up the amounts at the end of class and they claim they are willing to bring in $224 as a class! I also told them I would personally match their donations! I find getting them to put it in writing puts the responsibility on them and they are more likely to bring in the money. I also want them to see that I am also dedicated to making a difference through donating my own money.

Fundraising - We brainstormed as a class some easy ways to raise money. They came up with everything from a bake sale, dance, movie in the theatre, craft sale, hot lunches, and much more. We also got on the phone and contacted local businesses about the cause to see if they were willing to help us out.

So now that we have a plan, we need to put it in action. This week we are making hot cocoa in a bag to sell next week.

*Note - it is currently -40 degrees Celsius with the wind chill, so we thought hot cocoa might be a good seller.

I found some cute ideas online for reindeer hot chocolate and Santa hot chocolate.  Hopefully ours come out just as nice.

I'll let you know later in the week how our crafting went, and how our fundraising efforts are going.




So, in the spirit of giving back, here is your gift for this week. Click on the presents to discover your gift. Hopefully you can make use of them in your classroom.

Enjoy!

 

Kim