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Service Learning at Tillman
Tillman students have been hard at work completing many service learning projects:
1. Veterans Day Celebrations: To prepare for Veterans Day, all Tillman students watched a video and participated in discussions. In their buddy groups, the students then learned about Missouri USOs and how they support the soldiers. The students made cards for veterans, included a Hershey’s bar, and sent them to the USO.
On November 11th, the students participated in a school-wide Veterans Day assembly. Students with veterans as relatives made stars with names on them to decorate for the assembly. Veterans were invited to attend the assembly and each grade level sang songs to them. All veterans in attendance were honored and two were asked to speak. A reception was held after the assembly. Lisa Greenstein, Tillman’s principal, received many positive emails from the veterans thanking the school for the recognition. Several veterans even said this made it easier to discuss these memories with their grandchildren.
2. Community Garden – Ross Stauder, 4th grade student, won a grant from the Botanical Garden for his design of a community garden. This sparked an interest among the parents to support the creation of the garden, working together with the Tillman Character Council. Tillman third graders are also helping with the garden, tying it into their science curriculum in which the students learn about plants. They have visited Litzinger Road Ecology Center to learn about ecology and harvest seeds for the garden. The garden should be completed this spring.
3. Canned Food Drive – Tillman’s Character Council, along with the 5th grade classes, held a school-wide canned food drive in December to benefit KirkCare. The students created and hung posters in the hallway to teach students about hunger, including many facts and statistics. They then had theme days, Crazy Hat Day, Crazy Sock Day, and Pajama Day. If a student brought in a can, then they could participate in the theme day.
4. Shoeman Shoe Drive - Shoeman Water Projects picks up donated used and new shoes year round from businesses, churches, schools, special events and shoe drives. Once collected, the shoes are given a second life when the Shoeman exports the donated shoes to retailers in the developing world. The resale of shoes provides jobs and affordable footwear. All money raised then goes to purchase wells in the parts of Africa that are desperately in need of a nearby water supply. The Shoeman came to Tillman for a school-wide assembly and did an interactive presentation. The students are now collecting used shoes on an ongoing basis to support this program.
Tillman Brownies Learn About Health and Poverty
Tillman 2nd grade Brownie Troop #2632, lead by Jill Buchanan and Tracy Klebe, went to Kirkcare on Thursday, Dec. 1. The girls brought food items with them and learned about how the organization works. The troop then broke into two groups and rotated to two different activities--
1. brainstorming places that they could reach out to the community and
2. trying to shop for a family of four from the shelves of donated items.
The girls had to stay within the credits that they were given and try to provide a healthy meal for the family. Previous to this outing, the girls had enjoyed making their own pizzas at Racanelli's and brainstorming about needs versus wants. This provided an interesting contrast to the food pantry visit.
Tillman Supports Soldier's Wish List
All Tillman staff and students participated in gathering items for A Soldier's Wish List, a volunteer group that provides soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan with some comforts while they are away from home and in service to our country.For the second year in a row, staff and students donated clothing, treats, and entertainment items (DVDs, puzzle books, sports equipment).