Mrs. PeGan’s 5th grade class at Roanoke Elementary is spearheading a school supply drive for students in Uganda. One of her students' parents went on a mission trip to Uganda in September. “After Pastor Jason Parsons returned from his trip, I asked him to come and speak to our class about his experience. I wanted to tie in his trip and talk with a service learning project. Each year, the 5th grade does the HOPE chest which sells items to raise money for a local cause, but I always like to do other service learning projects throughout the rest of the year. My goal with these projects is to get my students thinking about others and how they can help. Sometimes kids think they cannot make much of a difference until they become adults, but I want my students to believe that they can make a difference now,” stated Mrs. PeGan.
She continued, "I asked Pastor Jason if there was anything that Uganda was in desperate need of. He responded that they were in need of school supplies. During his presentation, my class was shocked to see the inside and outside of a Ugandan school. So, we began brainstorming as a class how we could get the word out to the rest of our school to help collect supplies. My class decided that we need to make flyers, posters, write announcements, write a blurb for our school newsletter, and speak to each class in our school face-to-face. During the talks to the classrooms, my students showed pictures of the Uganda school to help show why we are doing what we are doing. In just the first day of collecting, we filled 2 boxes with donations.
"Each student in my class has a job to do to help with this project. They chose what job they wanted. One of the jobs was wrapping boxes and decorating them to put around the school. Students can donate new (or some gently used) items. We are continuing this drive throughout the end of the school year; that way if students have leftover school supplies they did not use at the end of the year, they can donate those when cleaning out their desks and lockers. The supplies will be taken by another mission trip team that will be going back this summer.
"My students are so excited about this project because it is theirs! They are creating and leading this entire project, and it was so neat to see it come together."
The school supply project is not the only service learning project Mrs. PeGan’s class has done this year. They have also performed random acts of kindness or service, wrote letters to veterans across the United States and the world, and made paper poinsettias for the residents of the Heritage of Huntington. They have fully embraced the HCCSC Core Values of ‘Responsiveness’ and ‘Shared Leadership."
If you would like to donate to the Uganda School Supply project, please bring your items to Roanoke Elementary during regular school hours and enter through Door 1.