GAINFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS DONATE THEIR TIME AND TALENTS FOR SCHOOL COMMUNITY

  Inspired by the deeds of a visiting author/illustrator, fourth-grade students from Mrs. Sarah Walkup’s class at Gainfield Elementary School (GES) have given of themselves for the benefit of the GES community.

  “The students are learning what it means to make sacrifices and give of your time for the school community,” said Mrs. Walkup. “They, on an individual basis, helped out the media specialist, stockroom aide, as well as the cafeteria and custodial staff among others.”

  In preparation for the school visit by author/illustrator, Matt Tavares, the students learned from his website that he donates his time and talents for a project entitled, “Robert’s Snow.” This fundraiser is a program set up by author-illustrator Grace Lin, where hundreds of illustrators design their own snowflake ornament, and all the ornaments are auctioned off to raise money to help cure cancer.

  Mrs. Walkup’s fourth-graders were very enthusiastic about performing some type of community service project in their school that, too, could help others.

  “Four of us helped the cafeteria ladies serve lunch and wash dishes,” said Heidi O. “It felt really good to help our school community and we got a chance to experience what they do in the cafeteria every day. It makes me appreciate them more too.”

  On this particular day, each student spent one period doing their community service.

  “The forty-minutes the children gave of themselves is a small sacrifice for the lifelong lessons,” said Mrs. Walkup, “and the lesson they learned, in my opinion, is irreplaceable.”

  Following their volunteerism, the students wrote a paragraph or two about what activity they performed and what it meant to them. They also each crafted and illustrated a cardboard snowflake like those created for the “Robert’s Snow” project. The blurbs and snowflakes were presented to Matt Tavares when he visited Gainfield Elementary School on October 25^th.

  “Grehson and I helped Mrs. Messina tape up pictures in the library about Matt Tavares’ books before his visit,” said Thomas J. “We also looked for Halloween books and put them up on the book rack. She teaches lots of classes and needed our help.”

  “I want to do it again because I felt good inside when I helped Mrs. Messina,” added Thomas. “She really appreciated that extra hand.”

Emma P. and Elijah B., (at left) both age 9, helped out GES paraprofessional, Mrs. Ginny Kowalski in the school’s storage closet.

Mrs. Sarah Walkup, Gainfield Elementary School 4^th grade teacher, tells author/illustrator Matt Tavares (pictured on right), how her students donated their time and talents to help their school community. The children wrote about their experience and what it meant to them.