Giving Tree

Giving Tree Service Learning Project (a message from Margaret Rajan)

Dear Teachers,

The Service Learning Coordinator (incorporating the helping hands of our AISC students with your guidance), the Elementary Student Council, ASA Girl Scout Troop and PCA Elementary Grade Level Representatives, are sponsoring our second Annual Giving Tree to support 300 students in 4 area orphanages. Through the work of Mr. Balajee, our Service Learning Coordinator, we have expanded our outreach this year by an additional 120 children! We are so grateful again for the opportunity to express our compassion and creativity as we move into the holiday season and bring year 2014 to a most successful and helpful close. As always, we are asking that teachers encourage students and their families to support this worthy effort.

The 4 orphanages our Giving Tree will support are:

Home Of Hope for Boys by the World of Life Church – 50 children

Assisi Ilam Orphanage – 25 Kids

St. Joseph Social Service Center (two locations) – 40 Kids and 130 kids

Seva Samajam Girls Home – 55 Kids

The Giving Tree will be set up on or about November 19th in the Elementary Cafeteria.

1. Children/parents can take a star off the tree and purchase a small item useful to the child

on the star. This year we will try to play Santa and the children at the orphanages will be allowed to request a specific gift!

2. We would like the present to be wrapped, and the star attached to the gift (stars will be

color-coded to indicate which orphanage gift will go to). The wrapped gift is to be returned

to a drop off box in the Elementary Library. Thank you to Mr. Jet for helping us find a safe

spot to receive the gifts. The gifts will be collected at the end of each day during the drop off

period.

3. The last day to drop off gifts will be about December 10.

4. Gifts will be dropped off to the orphanages sometime after December 14, dates to be determined by Parent Gina Makawana and Mr. Balajee. Like last year, delivery is open to

any families interested in visiting the orphanages.

5. Communications will also be sent to parent community via the PCA representatives and

room parents and shared with the student community via the Elementary Student Council

members.

Most importantly, in the spirit of continuous improvement and working towards a service

learning culture, we would also like to expand the number of AISC children’s helping hands

touching the stars and need your assistance in the following:

1. Cereal box donation drive – encourage the children to bring empty cereal boxes from home between October 27 and November 3. The PCA room parents will also send out a message to the parent community. The boxes are to be dropped off with Ms. Prisca in Elementary reception and the PCA grade representatives will collect them and cut to size for the base of the stars.

2. The PCA grade reps will provide materials required to make up the stars to the Art teachers, the Elementary Student Council, and parent JoAnn Restuccia leading the Girl Scout troop by November 7 and the appropriate children can work on decorating these from November 7 through November 18. Mr. Balajee will be exploring if the Highschool student service group would be able to join the ES Council and work with the children in the making of the stars as well. If there is any teacher interested in including their homeroom in the making of the stars, please contact Mr. Balajee, Margaret Rajan (mrprice1@yahoo.com), or Gina Makawana. (gina.makawana@yahoo.com) and a set of stars will be sent to you to work on with your class. Please feel free to help if you feel moved to do so!

3. Teachers Pam Thompson and Deanna Doherty, leading the Elementary Student Council, will collect all the stars and work with the ES student council to put the stars on the tree on or about November 19. The Elementary Student Council can again work on writing the rules to be posted by the tree in several different languages to make this accessible to our diverse community.

4. The PCA representatives will organize a methodology to honor the work of all the children and teachers who lead them, who touch the stars throughout the process.

Again, thank you for supporting this and creating a tradition of caring through the Elementary School Giving Tree Project.