Students learn to give during ‘Kindness Month’
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
These kindergartners and first graders at Eugene Field Elementary School, shown with teachers Michelle Young, left, and Jennifer Wells, right, won a recent food drive competition during which each class collected 68 non-perishable food items. The food drive was held in conjunction with the school’s “Kindness Month.”
Around this time of year most children are thinking about how much free candy they are going to get on Halloween night.
But youngsters at Eugene Field Elementary School in Maryville spent last week collecting, not candy, but nutritious non-perishable foods for families in need.
Organized by the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization, the preschool-through-fourth-grade food drive brought in 713 cans and containers of foodstuffs for the Nodaway County Ministry Center food pantry.
Organized as a contest, the two winning classes were Jennifer Wells’ first graders and Michelle Young’s kindergarteners, each of which collected 68 donated items.
PTO President Samantha Raasch said that as a reward for bringing in the most food, each class will get to participate in special activities with Eugene Field Principal Brian Lynn and Assistant Principal Kim Walker.
In addition to the PTO, the food drive received an assist from Nodaway Broadcasting, which provided public service announcements, and Blackford Ag Services-Channel, which picked up and delivered the donated food.
Raasch said the drive was held in conjunction with “Kindness Month” at Eugene Field, one in a series of schoolwide emphases highlighting various character traits.
In addition to collecting food for the Ministry Center, Raasch said, students during Kindness Month learned about avoiding and discouraging “active bullying” and received “kindness bracelets” for demonstrating various kinds of charitable behavior, such as offering their seat to someone else or making new friends at recess.
The glow-in-the-dark plastic bracelets carry the words, “It’s cool to be kind.”
2. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Pictured above are some of the adults who assisted with last week’s charity food drive at Eugene Field Elementary School. Standing from left are Parent-Teacher Organization President Samantha Raasch, Craig Stiens, Assistant Principal Kim Walker, and Allison and Cody Blackford. Blackford Ag Services-Channel provided pick-up and delivery service for the drive, which benefitted the nutritional assistance pantry at the Nodaway County Ministry Center
