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BY ERIKA ANDERSON
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Teachers at Christ the King School want their students to realize
the importance of giving to others and to continue to make community service a
priority in their everyday lives.
“When they’re taught as children to give to others it becomes a
part of them,” Vice Principal Tricia Ward said. “It’s like
second nature.”
Through a variety of yearly service projects, each homeroom works to raise
money and collect items for the less fortunate.
“We are hoping that these service projects show them that learning goes
way beyond the classroom and that what they learn needs to be applied to the
outside world,” Ward said.
This year the children raised enough money during Advent to support their
various projects and they still had money left to donate to Scottish
Rite/Egleston Children’s Hospital for two wagons used to transport
patients to treatments.
Joy Wood, curriculum director, whose husband works for the hospital, said
that purchasing the wagons allowed the children to see the result of their
efforts.
“It’s something they can relate to,” she said. “In this
situation, they can see their money going not only for the homeless, but for
children with an illness.”
A baby crib stands in the pre-first-grade room as a reminder of the women
and children that class and their teacher, Kay Guinn, are helping.
The children have launched a “Pennies from Heaven” project,
collecting pennies to purchase supplies to fill the crib which will eventually
go to the expectant mothers in the Pregnancy, Parenting and Adoption program of
Catholic Social Services.
Guinn said that because the children are bringing in their own pennies, they
witness the effects of their efforts.
“The children have really enjoyed it,” she said. “I think
it’s really important for the children to see that it was their
contribution. They see the items that are purchased and they see that their
pennies buy them.”
Guinn said she encourages parents to let their children earn pennies by
doing chores around the home. She said that the children have become more aware
of the homeless.
“They have been praying for the homeless in our special prayers every
day and I really think that it’s just raising their awareness and making
them more sensitive to the needs of others,” she said. “I would hope
that giving them this opportunity each year to help others would give them a
baseline for service that will continue as they get older.”
Mary Packham, second-grade teacher, has established an ongoing relationship
with her class and Atria Buckhead, Atlanta, and Morningside Nursing Home in
Conyers. The class baked Christmas cookies for each resident of the two homes
and made door hanger decorations. Each student now has a senior citizen to whom
they write a letter each month.
“I think it teaches them to love God and they learn respect for the
elderly,” Packham said. “We don’t have the respect for the
elderly that some other countries do.”
Packham said that corresponding with the seniors also helps the children
sharpen their writing skills.
“We tell them that they need to have their very best handwriting so the
(nursing home residents) can read them,” she said. “They are so
meticulous and take so much time writing each letter. It’s really amazing
to see.”
Pia Palacios, Spanish teacher for grades four through eight, has tried to
teach her students the value of helping others who have been through a tragedy.
She and her students have been collecting money, toys, food and clothes for a
Hispanic family of four children whose mother was killed in a fire that also
destroyed their home.
“I hope that they learn from this to be generous and to share with
others,” she said. “We don’t live in a bubble and I hope they
learn more about the Hispanic world and the Hispanic community around us.”
Guinn said that the students have learned that their efforts can change the
world.
“It’s just like the story of the lion and the mouse,” she
said. “You are never too little to make a difference.”
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