Carrollton High School (Carrollton, Michigan)

The students of Carrollton High School decided to focus on the topic of Hunger. The students chose to organize and host an Empty Bowls Dinner.

The class invited the art classes of Mrs. Wesley to make the bowls for the dinner. They also decided to donate monies raised to Hidden Harvest as they, seemingly, will have the most impact on the community.

At an Empty Bowls Dinner everyone is served a soup in a ceramic bowl along with a piece of bread. This is served to bring attention to the fact that many individuals throughout the world have no more than this to eat in a day's time. The purpose of holding the Hunger Expo in conjunction with the dinner is to build awareness of hunger issues and solutions to those issues that exist in the Saginaw area. The documentary "One Survivor Remembers" willalso be shown.

Wednesday, April 2 falls at the midpoint of Celebrate Carrollton Week and was chosen as the date for the dinner. This date was chosen for several reasons. First, our heritage as a community was deeply set in the culture of Eastern Europe. There is also a Holocaust survivor that has been a longtime resident of Carrollton. Second, it is a great time to showcase the ability of our students to take an interest and take a stand to better the community they live in and make a positive impact in the lives of others.

Tulpehocken Area School District (Bernville, Pennsylvania)

The Tulpehocken Area School District in Bernville, PA is lending a hand to needy families in the district. Students are coordinating a canned food drive within the junior-senior high school. The students met several times to determine the scope of the service project. They have coordinated everything from the advertising of the event, to the collection, to the distribution of the food. They will be working closely with the guidance office to be sure the donations reach the families in need.

Alexander High School (Laredo, Texas)

Living on the border presents a variety of cultures and languages. This often leads to division by legal authorities and citizens alike. Our goal is to teach our students to lead our community into an acceptance of differences in faiths, races, languages, and cultures. We began by reading Night in our English I classes, after we watched the Gerda Klein video. We wrote poems and researched genocides across the world. The local rabbi spoke to our students about the reasons behind the Holocaust and how intolerance can lead to disaster. Then we invited Rachel Seigel, a 14-year-old author from Dallas who wrote about people who helped the Jews during the Holocaust. After Rachel we participated in the Web Cast with Gerda Klein. On December 5 we hosted two Holocaust survivors, Anna Rado and Rose Williams. The San Antonio Holocaust Center brought them to Laredo for us and we Web Streamed their two presentations throughout the district. In order to get a ticket to see them live, students and adults were asked to bring four items of food. We collected almost 10,000 items which were distributed to needy students, custodians and the South Texas Food Bank. The Web Streaming reached more than 10,000 students, teachers and community members. Our students are writing to people concerning their involvement in the Holocaust and the reason behind their involvement. Because of the problem with intolerance on campus, we have begun creating a Tolerance Zone with plaques, seating and plants. The cement will have the logo one of our students created, along with butterflies (representing innocent victims of genocides and intolerance) painted on the cement. Around the edge will be handprints of everyone who pledges to be tolerant of others. Each handprint will include the name and cost $5.00, which goes toward a Tolerance Scholarship we have begun. We have raised $1500.00 so far and expect to award scholarships totaling more than $3,000.00 the first year. Community members have donated time, work, and supplies to make this project a success. I also received a $1,000.00 grant from the Association of Texas Professional Educators to build an entrance to the zone. Five history professors are going to have a panel discussion next month concerning intolerance and how it can lead to war and genocide. Some of these professors have lived through genocides in their native countries. The art department is helping create art, the social studies is researching and bringing in speakers, and the English department is compiling writings from our students. Plans include a DVD of the year’s activities, along with a book of writings and illustrations by our students and the people who have visited or written this year. We have a dedication ceremony tentatively planned for April, with proclamations from government officials and guests from across Texas. This project has just begun and we hope to see major changes in the next ten years. Our students are excited about learning and our teachers are excited about teaching once again.

Colonial Middle School (Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania)

Wanting to make a difference just as Gerda Weissmann-Klein had challenged, the 8^th grade Gifted English classes at Colonial Middle School split into groups and organized different community service projects.

Targeting those who are hungry, their service projects include Peanut Butter and Jam sandwich making- a nutritious way to donate food. A monthly, non-perishable food drive will also take place during February, March and April. The food will be donated to Colonial Neighborhood Council. Creating packed lunches for those who leave the Salvation Army shelter to work or go to school during the day is another on-going project. Lastly, hygiene packs, which include toothpaste, a toothbrush, and other personal care items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, razors, etc., are being assembled to donate to shelters.

We also have a Public Service Announcement on our website. Here is the link:

http://www.colonialsd.org/colonial/lib/colonial/citv/cmsspeakup.swf

Frazier Middle School (Frazier, Pennsylvania)

The students at Frazier Middle School are preparing a 2 minute documentary on the Food Drive they ran from November 19,2007 to December 14, 2007. The students took pictures during the set up, collection, and distribution of the non-perishable items. They took the pictures and used a computer program to create a DVD that shows the activity. The students had a lot of fun and were very pleased to be able to others in their community during the Holiday Season.

Cooper's Poynt Family School (Camden, New Jersey)

The students involved in this service project from Mr. Ferber's 8th grade Language Arts Literacy class have chosen to coordinate a fundraiser to raise money for The Cathedral Kitchen, a local soup kitchen, as well as another charity to be chosen. Additionally, we will be "adopting" our pre-school classes and are organizing a "Read Along with Me/ Role Model program. Last, but definitely not least, we would like to open the doors of communication with different schools with diverse student populations for a day of dialogue and understanding. As an inner-city school, we have many questions that we would like to ask students in suburban schools. We are sure that students in suburban schools have many questions about growing up in the inner-city. A "Get to Know Us Day" would open the doors of connection, understanding, tolerance, and acceptance. We could set up this "Diversity Dialogue" through our Distance Learning lab, or by a visit. Interested parties can reach us at dferber@camden.k12.nj.us.

Chariho Regional High School (Wood River Junction, Rhode Island)

Chariho Helps End Hunger in the Community

The students in the Chariho Community Service Program are working to help end hunger in their community. They will run a canned goods drive in November and December 2007 and deliver the items to the St. Mary’s St. James’ Community Food Pantry. At the food pantry, they will learn about hunger and food pantries in the state of Rhode Island. The students will also volunteer to work in the food pantry by stocking shelves. The students will also create a lesson appropriate for 3^rd and 4^th graders and teach it to students in the elementary schools in our district.