Portfolio tag: Roberts 2018-2019
Souper Bowl Soup Drive
The Roberts CCSR Club recently held a soup drive. They partnered with the Souper Bowl of Caring to collect cans of soup for the Friends of Francis Food Pantry. Student members created posters and a flyer to spread the word throughout the school community. The students collected 385 cans of soup in total!
Crayon Recycling
Fourth graders Devon and Will are greatly concerned for the world in which they live. They learned that over a half a million pounds of crayons are thrown in the trash each year. Wax crayons are made from petroleum, and do not break down in landfills. The boys decided to partner with The Crayon Initiative to start a crayon recycling program at the Roberts. They first tallied how many classrooms were in the school building. Then they decorated empty tissue boxes to distribute to each room. They visited each class and discussed the importance of recycling the crayons. The crayons were shipped to the Crayon Initiative where they were melted down and made into new crayons, which were then distributed to children’s hospitals across the country.
Recycling Info Posters
Jerrick, Nolan, Jerry and Shayne noticed that students and teachers were often confused about what to put in the blue recycling bins in their classroom. They decided to research what common classroom items could be recycled and which ones could not be recycled. They contacted the Office of Energy & Environment at Medford City Hall. They were informed about a great website that helps Massachusetts residents figure out what is recyclable, which the boys used to help make their list. They created a student-friendly poster for each classroom that details what can and cannot be recycled. They used clipart to make their poster accessible for all students and staff. The boys discussed the posters with each class when delivering them.
Kitty Connection Collection
As cat lovers, these students wanted to make a positive impact on the lives of local cats. They decided to hold a “Kitty Collection” to benefit the Kitty Connection Animal Rescue in Medford. They created a flyer that was distributed to all the families at the Roberts. They hung posters around the school to publicize the drive. They collected wet and dry cat food, paper towels and cat toys. It was a great success!
The Great Kindness Challenge
A group of fifth graders held a kindness poster contest. 165 students submitted posters. The CCSR 5th grade girls had a difficult time judging the posters. Ultimately they selected 3 winners from each grade. The winning posters were displayed in the school library. The rest of the posters were shared during lunch periods. Additionally, the last day of the challenge was school spirit day. Students were encouraged to wear shirts with a positive message or the color yellow (like the sun), to brighten the day!
Recycling Letter to MPS Food Services
Sarah and Adam were concerned about all the plastic bags that were being used in the cafeteria. Every day students at the Roberts are served breakfast in clear plastic bags. These bags are not recyclable. They researched the effects of plastic on the environment and wrote a letter to Ms. Julie Bradley, the head of food services for Medford Public Schools. They requested that the use of plastic bags be stopped to adhere to the city’s plastic bag ordinance that is going into effect this summer. Ms. Bradley replied that they will no longer be using the bags next year.
Neighborhood Safety Presentation
When discussing areas of concern, these students expressed a desire to teach younger students how to stay safe in the neighborhood. They were worried about students staying safe as they walked home from school. They decided to invite the Medford Police Department to speak to the Kindergarten and First Grade classes. The officers discussed topics such as crossing the street, stranger danger, car safety, how to call for help, etc.
Cheerful Posters for Seniors in Nursing Home
After visiting family members in a nursing home, these students decided that they wanted to cheer up seniors living there. They decided to create bright, inspiring posters that were hung around the facility to brighten the resident’s home.
Tissue Paper Flower Pots
These 5th grade members of the CCSR decided to make tissue paper flowers to brighten up the resident’s rooms at the Courtyard Rehabilitation Center in Medford. They researched how to create the flowers by watching video tutorials. They then taught the other members of the CCSR Club how to make the flowers. Each student also decorated flower pots to put the flowers in. Mr. Johnson assisted the students in assembling the pots. The students created 140 flower pots.
Operation Thank a Hero
2nd & 3rd Grade CCSR students partnered with Operation Gratitude to create a letter-writing campaign at the Roberts. They encouraged all students at the Roberts to write a letter to a “hero”, thanking them for their service. A “hero” was defined as a veteran, active duty soldier or any first responder. They highlighted information sheets and discussed letter writing guidelines for each classroom. Students also created posters to promote the campaign. Letters were mailed to Operation Gratitude in early June.
Busy Bags
These students wanted to create “Busy Bags” for a local hospital. The bags are to help keep children stay “busy” as they wait for family members to receive treatment or while visiting loved ones. To create the bags the students first had to hold a fundraiser to raise money to purchase the bags and their contents. They decided to sell iced coffee, pizza, drinks, and snacks during lunch to the teachers at the Roberts. Students used the money to purchase the bags and items to fill them. They labeled each bag and delivered the bags to Winchester Hospital at the end of May.
Screen-Free Week
Haily and Greenlee wanted to encourage the students at the Roberts to limit their screen time. They researched the effects of too much screen time on children. They created a flyer with alternative activities and a graph that was sent home to all students. For one week, families logged how much time students spent in front of screens. At the end of the week, students with the lowest amount of screen time won a No Homework Pass. Over 100 students participated in the challenge. Each winner logged 0 minutes for the entire week. Many parents gave positive feedback about the positive impact that decreasing screen time had on their families.