Why I Donate: Miss Myers’ 2nd Grade Class
When a second grade class at Halethorpe Elementary School was recently studying people who have made a difference in the world by helping others, their teacher Sarah Myers challenged them to make a difference in their community, with a bit of a twist.
Students at the school earn “Bee Bucks” for good behavior, which they can use to “buy” special things at school treats, toys, even the chance to run class meetings. Myers, who has carried on her father’s tradition of donating to the Maryland Food Bank, saw an opportunity for an important life lesson. She offered to exchange the kids’ play money for the real thing, which they could donate to help their fellow Marylanders.
“Every single student went to their desk and emptied out their envelope of Bee Bucks,” Myers said. “Some students had been saving up for well over a month.
As time went on, they continued to give. As soon as I’d hand out Bucks, they’d get out of their seats and put it in the collection basket.”
By the end of the year, Myers’ class raised $700, which can help provide as many as 2,100 meals for the kids’ hungry neighbors.
“I feel very fortunate to be in the position to open children’s eyes to the needs of the world and foster the compassion that is already burning in all of them.”
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