By: Anna Pichardo—
Each year many of the students and staff of Muncie Community Schools embark on projects to give back to the community that go unnoticed. We would like to highlight a few of these deeds in which our MCS family ensured a happy holiday for our children this holiday season.
Anthony Administration Building
- The employees of the Anthony Administration building donated 6 turkeys and other food items to the Muncie Mission for their Thanksgiving meal.
- For Christmas, the Anthony Administration staff provided Christmas gifts for the children of three families living at the YWCA shelter. A $150.00 gift card was donated so that staff could provide gifts for any children that may come in over the holiday season.
Elementary Schools
- The 5th Annual EWA Celebration Shop, a service project by third grade ELP students. Each year the students ask our school community for donations of gently used clothing, toys, and household items for families in need. The students spend each day after school helping move, sort, and organize the donations in preparation for the evening of Celebration Shop which was held December 10th. On the night of the event, students and their parents set up the shop in the EWA gym and assisted shoppers with bags and boxes as they shopped. Throughout the entire process, students learned teamwork and organizational skills, but most of all, they learned to give back to those in need during this special time of year. Our students were very excited to be part of this event, and looked forward to seeing how their hard work benefits others each year.
- On December 18th, a class of 4th and 5th graders from EWA traveled to Walmart south to purchase items needed at the Muncie Mission. These purchases were made with a donation by an anonymous donor. Each student had a list of “needs” and $31 to budget, select, calculate total costs (including tax), and purchase items that the director of the Muncie Mission addressed as a need. After the students spent their allotted funds, they took their gifts to the Muncie Mission. The students were very excited to take part in the act of giving to others.
- The Grissom staff donated food and holiday items for Thanksgiving baskets which were raffled at Family Night. Grissom staff donated $337 to Secret Families and participated in the delivery of Christmas Trees for Secret Families. Individuals also helped students and family with clothing and gifts for students.
- South View staff, with outside help, assisted 62 families with a total of 200 children this holiday season.
- Storer staff helped several families this winter by adding to the “Hat and Mittens Tree.” Items are given to students in need this winter. They also helped a family through the Muncie Central High School National Honor Society “Reaching Out into Our Community” holiday event.
- Sutton staff sponsored five (5) families and a kindergarten class sponsored four (4) families.
- West View staff and the PTO sponsored three (3) families for the holiday.
Middle Schools
- Northside cafeteria staff provided baskets for two families and the school provided gift cards to students who would not have had a Christmas.
- Southside staff decided to start a Panther Pantry instead of adopting a family. As a staff, they donated food and clothes to the pantry to help students throughout the entire year. Students referred to the Panther Pantry, by teachers, could go down on Fridays for items they needed. A SMS social studies class raised money to provide a special education class with gifts for their holiday party.
Central High School:
- Muncie Central staff collected and donated a total of $550.00 for the Secret Families event. While the National Honor Society sponsored 7 families though their annual Angel Tree holiday event.
- The Central drama department, in collaboration with the Muncie Rotary sponsored the Mountain of Food Collection for the Muncie Mission.
- The JROTC participated in Heroes and Helpers, and had taken a collection of Toys for Tots. Seventy-two JROTC students handed out fliers to Wal-Mart customers asking them to purchase a toy for the Salvation Army; Toys for Tots. The donations filled an entire truck for Toys for Tots.
The joy on the faces of the children who received these gifts warmed the hearts of all the adults giving back. Two teachers at one of the elementary schools collected money from their families and purchased presents for five students in their schools. Over half of this money was spent on winter coats, gloves, hats, shoes, and clothing for each student. The rest was spent on toys, thus giving five children a happier Christmas morning.
Once again our teachers and staff have gone far beyond the call of duty to make our students’ holidays brighter. Staff throughout the school district recommended a total of 222 families to be considered for the Secret Families event, they assisted at the Heroes and Helpers event at Target, and collected for Toys for Tots and many other community events. Muncie Community Schools would like to wish everyone a happy holiday and thank everyone for their efforts.
The Muncie Community Schools (MCS) serve approximately 6000 students from Muncie and the surrounding area. MCS provides a range of diverse opportunities for children as well as adult basic education. For more information about MCS events, programs or services, please contact Ana Pichardo, Director of Communications at 765-747-5210 or apichardo@muncie.k12.in.us. Follow MCS on Twitter at @MuncieSchools and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MCS1Official
Ana Pichardo is Director of Communications, Muncie Community Schools
