Creekside Elementary School held a
spare change drive for Tsunami victims. The collection went from January 24 - February 4 and Creekside students, parents and staff members collected a total of $3,654.43.
The money will be given to Oprah's Angel Network. Oprah then divides the money between three charities: Mercy Corps, Free The Children and Habitat for Humanity International. Mercy Corps is a work program to pay the locals to clean up the area, giving them money to take care of their families. Free The Children plans to rebuild schools and send school supplies. They will build health clinics and help provide clean water. Habitat for Humanity International plans to build transitional houses with verandas and sanitary facilities.
Students in Lori Anne Summers' kindergarten class are in the process of doing a Post Office unit that incorporates learning how the mail system works.
She describes the unit here: it is a wonderful unit where the children have to bring in signed Valentine's cards, 30 pennies, and a decorated shoe box. My puppet theater becomes the post office, my kitchen becomes the sorting room, and other areas of the classroom become the delivery rooms. Different children have one of three jobs each day. Some sell stamps, some sort the mail, and some deliver the mail. I go to the post office and purchase 2,000 1 cent stamps that the children purchase with their pennies before the unit begins.
During the two week unit, the children address a certain number of Valentine's cards each day, the go to the post office and purchase 1 cent stamps with their pennies, they put the stamps on their cards, and then they put them in the mailbox. This is a wonderful unit that teaches math skills, communication skills, and helps my students learn about their community. The unit will be ending this Friday, February 11. The teacher has pictures she can provide.
