Photo courtesy of Kate Mather.
From left, Ellie Gribbin, Henry Slaughter, Julia Mather and Lulu Gribbin promote the third-grade service project benefiting the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.
Mountain Brook Elementary encourages students to be involved in service activities by providing a grade-level service project each month.
Each grade is in charge of developing a project for one month out of the year, and all grades participate in collecting items for the monthly projects. These projects offer students leadership within the school, but also connect them with organizations in the community. Students take the lead on promoting their grade-level project by making and hanging posters around the school to ask for donations.
In October, the third grade coordinated a collection of items for the Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS), to benefit animals affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Lucy Marsh, a third-grade parent and GBHS board member, came to talk to the students about the GBHS and the impact their donations would make.
Marsh expressed that the project was a perfect fit for elementary students, as the founder of the GBHS, John Herbert Phillips, also founded the Birmingham City Schools system and believed in the importance of teaching kindness to animals at a young age.
Fourth- and fifth-graders will continue the MBE service projects in the next few months. In November, the fifth grade coordinated an effort to make cards for veterans, which aligns with the fifth-grade Veterans Day program. In December, fourth-graders collected items for the YWCA Santa’s Workshop.
– Submitted by Kate Mather.
