"It's not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving." --Mother Teresa
During the holiday season, students and staff in schools across the district strive to focus on lifting and helping those in our community by participating in various service activities and charitable drives. Here are just a few of the fun and meaningful activities taking place!
Last year, after Superintendent Steve Norton asked all district schools to get involved in the community and collect food for the local food pantries, South Cache Middle School’s Student Ambassadors took on the challenge and organized a schoolwide food drive. The students had so much fun and success that they decided to make the food drive an annual event.
This year, they held a first-hour competition to see which class could gather the most donations. In addition to bragging rights, the winning class will also get to have a donut party. But while a party may help spur on a little healthy competition, the true importance of the food drive isn’t lost on the students. “This service project helps the kids be community-minded,” said Andrea Talbot, South Cache Student Ambassador Adviser.
“We are doing the food drive to help out our local food pantry, so students have the opportunity to help their community,” explained Annabelle, a student ambassador at South Cache. “This food drive is important for us students, because someday it will be our community, and it will be our responsibility to take care of it.”
Students at Nibley Elementary also caught the holiday spirit of giving. Their 6th-Grade Kindness Krew sponsored a food drive for the Cache Food Pantry. Students made posters to hang around the school and had a "Krew" stationed at morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up during the week of the drive. At the end of the week, the Krew loaded up a truck filled to the brim with donated food items. The Kindness Krew plans to take a field trip to the Cache Food Pantry at the end of the school year to get a first-hand look at how the food pantry runs. Students will even have a chance to separate food items and organize them into bins.
Other schools held similar events to involve students in caring for their community. The Mountainside Elementary Youth Leaders, comprised of sixth graders, helped gather and organize food items, then load them up for delivery. Mountainside Elementary School also collaborated with the Mendon Library to have an Angel Tree. Canyon Elementary will also have an Angel tree, which typically helps anywhere from four to seven local families per year.
North Cache Middle School’s student leaders are setting up and running a food drive until December 9. Students can earn some really fun rewards--such as a Crazy Outfit Day, a Student vs. Teacher Volleyball Game, and watching Mr. Ross or Mr. Downs shave their heads--by bringing in lots of donations.
The Smithfield schools, including Sky View High School, Birch Creek Elementary School, Sunrise Elementary School, and Summit Elementary School, participate each year in the Night of Giving, an event organized by Nicole Zollinger and the Smithfield Chamber of Commerce. Schools submit the names of families in their community who might benefit by receiving gifts for Christmas. The entire community, including schools, chamber members, youth groups, etc., participate in the event.
Green Canyon High School also has several different service opportunities during this holiday season. Kyla Cox, a student at Green Canyon, is organizing a giving tree for a refugee family in the community. The Student Council students hosted a service week that included a food drive, and the Green Canyon choirs are doing Christmas stockings for children and collecting donations for families in need within the Green Canyon community.
The CCSD District Office also joined in the fun and hosted their annual Holiday Food Donation Drive from November 14-18, 2022. They collected canned goods to donate to the Cache Food Pantry.
