Group+D

= Group D=

Please keep in mind that only one person can edit this page at a time. It is recommended that each of you choose a colour of font and use the same one throughout.

As you work on your social action project (committed to 12 hours of dedicated time to giving service to others) plus responding in a Wiki format with your group of three, you will answer the following question: In light of your understanding of who do you say that I am, what does it mean to be Christ to others through your project? You will share your thoughts and observations and actions of setting up to kinds of things you did to what you observed or saw to the final pieces of your project. At the end of your project (Dec. 2 or what you have completed thus far), your group will come up with a group response to Who do you say that I am based on your social action journey.

Let's start answering this question    tonight.

//What does it mean to you, "Who do you say that I am?"//

//The project that I am choosing to do with children falls under the ministry of "Samaritan's Purse". It is a program where children fill a shoe box with various items such as stuffed animals, stickers, small toys, school supplies, personal hygiene items, etc.--whatever they can fit in that box. These boxes are then shipped to needy children all over the world in time for Christmas.// //(Lisa)//


 * The project that I am choosing to do is a student-teacher basketball game. Basketball is a big sport at my school and we are allowing students to buy into the event for the price of $1 plus a canned food item. We will also be selling popcorn to the spectators and offering a raffle. The money raised and food items donated will then be given to a charity within our community. (Nicole)

//Today we started our project by having half the room set up like an airport waiting room. There was a divider in the middle and the other half was set up like the inside of a plane. Children were given boarding passes to Costa Rica because this was the first country we were going to learn about. When student entered through "Gate xx" and seated on the plane, they were shown a small inflight movie on Costa Rica, and they particpated in various small trivia recall games in order to earn "Box Bucks". (At the end of this project, children will use their box bucks to "purchase" items to fill their own shoebox to send.) (Lisa--sorry I'm using your colour Nicole, but I still don't know how to change the colour when I post my update ). //

The project I am doing with the children in my class is organizing fundraising events for ShareLife. Students have brainstormed various events that will be taking place school wide in order to raise money. We have set up a plan to have one fundraising event a month. In December we are going to shift our focus to Christmas families we will be sponsoring through St.Vincent Du Paul and all money collected will be used towards purchasing gifts for our Christmas family. The class will also be responsible for advertising for the events, counting the money and organizing the events. This month we will be collecting pocket change to wear black and orange on Holloween. (Andrea) The past two weeks have been extremely busy for myslef and the Student Athletic Council. We were able to accomodate for 10 classes to attend the buy-in, which is approximately 300 students - meaning we were able to raise over $300 as well as more than 300 canned food items for our local food bank. Before and during the game, students had the opportunity to buy popcorn, cotton candy, and bottled water, again all proceeds were donated to our local food bank. It was great to have the opportunity for this event as it really brought the school community closer together - unfortunately due to the size of the gym, we were unable to accomodate the entire school. Once all the food had been collected and boxed, I delivered it with the help of some student volunteers. Overall, it was a great event that not only raised awareness and support for a good cause, but also helped improve our overall school community. - Nicole This week the students are going to learn about Nicaragua. Students are continuing to earn their "box bucks" and parents have started to contribute all kinds of things for students to "buy". Enthusiasm is high and we are receiving many positive comments from parents. Every time a child learns about a country, the perspective is given from the point of view of a native child. This helps students identify with the children of the other country. For example, in Nicaragua children love to play soccer and our students can identify with this. This is the second last week for this project. (Lisa). I finally figured out how to change the colour.

Last week was our first fundraising event for ShareLife. The students in my class made posters which advertised dressing in orange and black and donating your pocket change to ShareLife. Students went class to class to collect the money and then counted it all. We raised $163! The students are looking forward to our next event...Crazy hat day! (Andrea)

This week at our weekly Student Athletic Council meeting, we all decided that we would take the money collected from the basketball game and donate it to the Crisp family during this time of need. It is extremely heart-breaking and upsetting to hear the recent news of Brandon's death, and knowing that funeral costs can be quite high, our students decided that the family would be appreciative of the money. All togehter we raised almost $500. Who do you say that I am? I think that as a group, we are able to understand the difficulties that others may encounter and we can do what we are able to help them in their times of need - we are giving, caring community members. - Nicole

This week we started talking about the families we will be supporting in our community. The school has 3 families that we have adopted for Christmas. Three or four classes sign up for each family and they will be responsible for buying gifts for the family. The students in my class and Tina's class will be making posters as well as making weekly announcements to keep students informed on how each class is doing. The students in my class are really excited about it. This friday we will also start having "Hot Chocolate Fridays". I have donated the hot chocolate and the students in my class are going to make a donation for a cup of hot chocolate. All money raised will go towards buying gifts for our Christmas family. (Andrea) This was the final week for the Christmas Child project. What an exiting week. The students were able to go "shopping" and fill their shoe boxes with all kinds of items. We spent quite a bit of time last week talking about all the kinds of things that we would want to put in the shoe boxes--not just toys. We talked about what the recipients would want and not necessarily what we would want. This was a hard concept for them because they don't value school items or hygiene items as much as they value toys. Students also made a list of different types of items for a girl vs. a boy. By the time "shopping day" came, students had well thought out ideas and we had a packing party. It was neat to see the students faces as they "purchased" the items for their box. (Lisa)

So, the question is, WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM? Or, who do we say we are? What do you think? Im my opinion, I would say that the three of us are strong role models who genuinely have an interest in helping others and who strive to instill this "generous" and giving quality into our students - no matter what age they may be. What are your thoughts? (Nicole)

I would agree. Through all of this, I am hoping that my students and other students in the school will learn from the fundraising that we have done and will continue on with it in the future. I hope they will see our example and will strive on their own to help others any way that they can. Last week I had to talk to my students about our Hot Chocolate Fridays. I had several students not bringing in a donation (I was asking for $0.50 each) but was giving hot chocolate to them anyways because I felt bad. On this past Thursday I talked with my class and reminded them that all money raised from our hot chocolate was going to be used to purchase gifts for families in need this Christmas season. On Friday I had a much better response and some students donated more than I was asking from them. On hat day and hot chocolate day, I had a handful of students donate more than what was being asked of them. When I told them they only needed to pay $1 or $2 they said they knew, and wanted to pay more. If only a few students become more charitable and caring of those less fortunate, then I feel I have been successful in setting a positive example. (Andrea)

I also agree. We are generous and giving toward others especially to those in need. Along with that is the realization that we have a lot to be thankful for. And it is out of that thankfulness that we can cultivate the desire to give to others. We can look inwards and think that we may not have as much as our neighbour and perhaps wish we could afford more (some of our students have difficult financial situations), but if we can learn to be thankful for the blessings we do have, we are more likely to give from our hearts to those with even less than we may think we have. So, in summary, I would like to add that not only are we generous and giving, but that this quality comes from a thankful heart. (Lisa)   **