Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.
~ Marian Wright Edelman (1939-) American activist for the rights of children.
Ideas from Past Grants
Kindergarten Scavenger Hunt: Established in 2008, now all incoming Kindergarten students in Salem have a chance to visit their school and meet their teachers before that sometimes terrifying first day. The original “hunt” which included visits to many of the rooms students would use and introductions to many of the school staff who would become their helpers, ended with students finding a “treasure”; a book provided by SEF. It is exciting citywide projects like this that led us to introduce the new Collaborative Grant category.
What’s Happening? When students in Salem High School’s Television Studio course wanted to let people know what they were up to, they produced a monthly television show that was aired on SATV. Students were involved in every step of the process from proposing content, gathering news through interviews and video clips, acting as “newscasters” and producing the segments.
by Coretta Scott King
Wanna Make Saltsa? To introduce kids to gardening, a teacher at Saltonstall helped students to plant tomatoes, onions, peppers and cilantro. Students were responsible for weeding and watering the garden, canning and preparing the “Saltsa”, designing and producing a unique label and delivering the jars to the Salem Mission (now Lifebridge) for their food pantry.
Fight Intolerance with Coretta Scott King: This lesson in community began with a group of 6th graders and Coretta Scott King’s Goin’ Someplace Special. An ongoing study of racism, rumors, bullying and friendship was punctuated by monthly Peace Days which offered an opportunity to build the community’s capacity to understand its relationships.
Resources
For more projects in this category, go to kidsinneed.net.
