Students

Sixth-graders at David A. Boody Middle School (I.S. 228) in Brooklyn have collected more than 500 cans of food to donate to the food pantry at the nearby Church of Sts. Simon and Jude. The church feeds hungry people in its parish and shares food with other churches and missions. Boody students have also donated more than 50 "gently used" winter coats to the Coney Island Lighthouse Mission.

"One of my family members is homeless and I know what she's going through and how hard it is," said Chris Karnbach, 11, a Boody student who brought in 10 cans of food. "I wanted to help people who are going through the same thing."

"I think it's a good thing to feed the hungry," said Ingrid Troncoso, 11, who brought in 16 cans. "If you got put in that position, you would want someone to do the same for you."

At PS 3 on Staten Island, first graders and their teachers decided to create gift baskets to send to U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of the school community are making the baskets under the guidance of a not-for-profit group, Staten Island Project Homefront. The baskets are chock full of treats like Oreos and Twizzlers that are not available overseas. They also include cards, pictures, and good wishes to help the troops feel less homesick.

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Project Holiday, which was created by Staten Island-based Richmond Tours, presented 160 Kindergarteners at Staten Island’s PS 16 with two brightly wrapped toys each at a program at the school on December 15. Joined by the Curtis and New Dorp High School choruses, students, faculty, and staff joined in to sing their favorite holiday songs until Santa appeared and the wide-eyed Kindergarteners marched up the stage to meet Santa, and happily receive their gifts.

In its fourth year, Project Holiday is Richmond Tours' owner/president Frank Petruzzi’s way to give thanks for his own family’s health and happiness. Petruzzi and his wife, Angelica, raise money and then purchase and wrap gifts with their three young children and other family members and friends.  Project Holiday started with two schools in 2004 and has grown steadily since then. This year, Project Holiday will distribute more than 1,200 gifts to 600 Kindergarteners in four Title I schools in four boroughs.  This year’s principal funders were Richmond Tours, Academy Bus Company, Interior Metal, Italianissimo Restaurant, Phil Petruzzi, New Dorp High School, and Tottenville High School. 

The entire school community at Brooklyn’s PS 207, Fillmore Academy, and the Early Childhood Center; including the principal, assistant principals, teachers, assessment team, paras, secretaries, students, parents, custodial staff, aides, lunchroom personnel, security, and medical workers, joined together to make sure that those in need will have a holiday that is cheerful and bright.

They collected 1,000 pounds of food for City Harvest, more than 1,300 pounds of pennies for Penny Harvest, hundreds of toys for Toys for Tots, and hundreds of dollars for the Make a Wish Foundation.

Sixth grader Anthony Adamita, pictured above with teacher Alice Corbet, said, "I felt very good about the donation I gave to the children. I wanted the kids to have the best Christmas they ever had."

The students at District 75's P721/Roy Campanella Occupational Training Center in Brooklyn, are all involved in activities that will make the world a better place, to support the school’s current theme, "Making a Difference." 

The students at P721 are developmentally disabled and autistic adolescents, but they are all enthusiastic and motivated in their quest to help the needy. The school has ongoing community service programs that help the students make a difference in their school, their community, and in the world. 

Their numerous drives and projects include collecting for local food pantries, clothing for the needy, coats for the homeless, cards for the elderly, blankets and towels for the ASPCA, pajamas for orphaned and foster children, and supplies for America's troops.

Tiffany Casares, pictured collecting coats for the New York Cares Coat Drive with fellow student Dexter Dey, said, "The world would be a better place if everyone helped each other."

The school's hallways are filled with collection bins that the students empty daily. The staff, students, and parents have opened their hearts (and cleaned out their closets) to provide overwhelming contributions for the students to organize and distribute.

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The students of the Instrumental Music Elective class at the Baccalaureate School for Global Education in Queens played for the Sunnyside Community Center's Holiday Lunch Party. Eighteen students sang and played seasonal songs for more than 100 senior citizens and dedicated I'll be Home for Christmas to the men and women in the U.S. armed forces. The singing was accompanied by a violin, flute and Latin percussion instruments. BSGE music teacer Diana Nikkolos was the conductor.

Senior Amy Vistoso said, “Our school, BSGE, is very big on charity events. There's an organization called Helping Hands that sponsors all kinds of events like canned food drives and toy drives. This kind of thing means a lot to me.”

The students also have been collecting toys for children in the hospital and canned goods for City Harvest. Additionally, they purchased a water pump for citizens in Haiti. There is a student committee that researches and votes on where to send the money they raise.

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At Brooklyn’s PS 58, the P.T.A. and guidance counselor organize an Operation Santa program to help families in the school community who are having economic difficulties celebrate the holidays. In previous years, the school collected toys for charities, but discovered that there were families in their own community who needed help. 

In November, classroom teachers and other staff members are asked to nominate families who need assistance. Guidance counselor Lori Glazer contacts each family that is nominated to get an idea of what they most need or wish for, including clothes and toys.  Each family is assigned a confidential letter "code" and each requested item is posted on an index card in the parent room. 

In early December, parents are invited to stop by and select a card with an item to purchase and donate, unwrapped, with the index card attached.  The school staff wraps the gifts and distributes them to the families before the holiday break.

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This year, the students and teachers at PS 136 in Queens each donated a dollar to benefit the Schneider's Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park. Every person who donated was given a paper hand to decorate. The hands were put together to form a beautiful giving tree. The tree reminds the school community that “together we can do anything.” The school raised $330 that it used to buy bears and toys for the children at the hospital. Students helped stuff bags of goodies for 120 children at the hospital.

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Since 2001, Paulo Intermediate School 75 on Staten Island has sponsored an annual school-wide toy drive, in conjunction with the Scott & Todd Morning Show (WPLJ 95.5 FM), to benefit the children of Blythedale Children's Hospital. 

Mark Herrmann, one of the school’s assistant principals, has coordinated this drive from the beginning. Hermann was called to action in December 2001 when he was listening to the Scott & Todd show and heard one of his students, Katie Bergin, talking about Blythedale Children's Hospital.  She inspired him to get involved with the annual toy drive that WPLJ sponsors on behalf of Blythedale.

Katie Bergin's younger sister, Shannon, is now one of Herrmann's "elves" helping to deliver the toys this year. 

"Mr. Herrmann especially motivates the new students in the school to get involved with this fundraiser," she said. "The toy drive helps get all the IS 75 students in the holiday spirit!"

The photo above shows Herrmann and the students and staff of IS 75 loading the truck for their recent drive to Blythedale Hospital.

Brooklyn’s  S.T.A.R. Early College High School at Erasmus student government is holding a "Make A Change Clothing Drive" that started in early December and will end in January. Students and staff members are bringing in gently used clothing to help those in need. In these difficult economic times, the students feel it is extremely important to be thankful for their good fortune and to share that good fortune with those who need assistance.

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Santa paid a special visit to the students of PS 208 in Manhattan. Not only did Santa greet and shake hands with the lively crowd of third, fourth, and fifth graders, but he also gave a gift to every student in the school, courtesy of Macys.com.

In November, nearly two hundred PS 208 students wrote letters to Santa asking for specific Christmas gifts. Macys.com received the letters—with requests for everything from dictionaries and storybooks to skateboards and videogames—and granted the students' wishes. Santa and his elves gave out the gifts during a visit to the school.

Fourth-grader Odyssey Fields said she was extremely grateful for her present from Santa, a pair of brand new figure skates. "I'm so appreciative because ice skating is my favorite thing, and I go all of the time," she said.

PS 208 Principal Susan Green was overjoyed by Santa's visit and the generosity of Macys.com. "These gifts let the children know that there are people who care about them," she said. "For many of these kids, this might be the only present they receive. Today is nothing short of a blessing."

Students and teachers at PS 71 in Ridgewood, Queens, have been busy during this holiday season helping out the community and those in need. The entire school participated in the Penny Harvest collecting 82 sacks of pennies totaling $867 and a Toys for Tots collection run by the school’s parent coordinator and the PTA. They also ran a Pajama Program that makes sure that children in need have a warm pair of pajamas. At their first ever pajama drive they collected close to 200 pair of new pajamas.

As the holiday season approached, the staff members at PS 108 in Queens felt that they had a lot to be thankful for. They decided to help make some of their students and their families happy this holiday season. 

On December 1, Operation Rudolph began. Staff brought in toys, clothes, and toiletries for families. On December 16, the school hosted an Operation Rudolph event. Families came to the school and picked out toys and clothing. They enjoyed holiday music, hot chocolate, and cookies as well as the warm company of others in their school community. 

One grandparent said, “I like Operation Rudolph very much. I would like this to be done every year. I appreciate this being done and seeing the smile on my granddaughter’s face."

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This year, in response to the growing population of PS 76 students living in shelters, staff members from the Bronx school came up with a plan to help students and their families during the holidays.

Directors of the local shelters provided a list of children who needed gifts, hats, gloves, and scarves. A committee of teachers and other staff members from PS 76 created tags for each item needed and put the tags on a tree in school’s main office. Staff members were invited to choose a tag from the tree and then buy the item on the tag. 

Thanks to the generosity of the school staff, all 42 children on the list received gifts along with hats, gloves, and scarves. The children and their families were invited to PS 76 for a celebration that included music, games, a sing-along, and cookie decorating. 

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In the fall, the first-graders at PS 129 in Manhattan were asked to write letters to Santa Claus detailing their wish lists for Christmas. In mid-December, Time-Warner Cable Company of New York City staffers came to the school dressed as Santa and his elves and gave all of the children Christmas gifts along with coats, sweaters, and other clothing for some of the school’s neediest students. 

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Students at three Manhattan schools have been giving back this year by working with senior citizens to create Memory Books. Since September, students from MS 131, The Facing History School, and Technology, Arts and Sciences Studio (TASS) have been taking weekly trips to three senior centers as part of an initiative to build cross-generational connections. During the visits, the students and seniors have worked together to make the Memory Books, which are published at the end of the year. The books tell the personal stories of the senior citizens and the students through digital photography, video, and audio recordings.

The students say they have enjoyed getting to know the senior citizens.

“Emilio and I have a very good relationship, like the one I have with my grandfather,” said student Diana Benicio, who participated in the program last year. “This man is very strong because he has gone through many hardships. He loves life and won’t give up just because of health problems.”

The Urban Arts Partnership coordinates the project, which is now in its second year.

 

For the past four years, the staff at ACORN Community High School in Brooklyn has contributed to a turkey raffle that awards 20 students Pathmark gift certificates just before Thanksgiving.  This year, they added a holiday raffle and raised funds to give 20 students Target gift certificates.

The raffles allow the staff to show how much they care about the students and their families and the students feel great knowing that others care about them. Many of the school’s students come from economically disadvantaged households and this may be their only gift for holiday.

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The students of IS 141 in Queens collected over 14,000 cans of food for City Harvest. They also went to the post office and got letters that children wrote to Santa, then raised money to fulfill the children's wishes. Additionally, the students made holiday cards for wounded soldiers recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

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The staff and students at the Bronx Adult Learning Center and City As School sent holiday greeting cards and a box of goodies to the Army Reserve Unit based in Fort Totten, New York and currently stationed in Iraq.

Miguel Morales, Computer Program Analyst at the Bronx Adult Learning Center is a member of the unit and served in Iraq. He is pictured with some students.

Student Miriam Edwards said, “The way I feel about writing a card to the soldiers in Iraq is a touching feeling. The soldiers are many miles away from home and we need to let them feel more closer to home and how much we appreciate the hard work they are doing by protecting and fighting for their nation.”

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The student government at PS 163 Bath Beach in Brooklyn has been very busy this holiday season.  In December they organized a holiday toy drive and in November they held a Thanksgiving food drive.  Donations from both drives went to a community food pantry. The students also held a Penny Harvest.

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The New York Carolina Club adopted the classes of Marta Valle Secondary School teacher Alicia Raia, for the holidays as part of its philanthropy initiative called Carolina in the Classroom. Raia is a Teach for America corps member and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate.

The Club raised funds through an online drive to purchase books as a holiday gift for each of Raia’s eighth and ninth grade students. Just before winter break, the students took a field trip to Barnes and Noble to buy books for themselves. They each were given $25 and Barnes and Noble gave the school a 20% discount and tax exemption.

Ninth-grader Iesha Thomas said, "The trip was fun because I got to pick books I liked and that are more interesting than the ones in school. It was hard because I'm picky about the books I read, but I found three I liked. I'm going to start reading as soon as we get out of school tomorrow for the break."

"The NYCC supported this project to extend the public service tradition of the University to our community in New York City,” said Raia. “We recognize the excellent education we received in Chapel Hill, and thought the holidays would be the perfect time to give students a lifelong gift—the love of reading. I would like to thank the NYCC and my fellow Tarheels for making this dream trip a reality."

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This winter, students at IS 204 in Queens sold candy grams—messages attached to candy canes delivered by the candy gram team—for one dollar each. The students raised $840, which is enough to support two children in Rwanda for one year. The children will be adopted by the whole school, and included in the school’s annual yearbook.

Two of the candy gram elves, students Tanha Begum and Mamunur Rayhan, wrote about what this project meant to them: For you, a dollar might not mean much, but for the kids in Rwanda, Africa, every dollar counts. In honor of the festive holiday season, we decided to sell candy grams to raise money to help the kids in Rwanda. Each candy gram cost one dollar. We sold the candy grams in the cafeteria during our lunch periods, as well as walked around and got the staff of IS 204 involved! So many people bought candy grams! Each candy gram had a place for the sender to write a message, so a lot of kids confessed their crushes, and also sent messages to their teachers! Teachers even sent candy grams to each other.

We worked after school to put the candy grams together: Each one had the message card which also had the To: and From: filled out so that we knew where they needed to go. We added some donated materials such as fabric paper backing and pretty ribbon, and tied bows to the hole punched message cards. It was mad fun!

It was a huge success! On Friday last week, we had enough money to support just one child in Rwanda, so on Monday, we decided to speed sell. We raised enough money in ONE DAY to almost support TWO children! And then, our UFT chapter leader, Mr. LeWinter donated the costs of the candy canes from his UFT stipend so we were only $40 away from our goal. So Mr. Atkins, Ms. Kornegay and Ms. Fischer went around to some of the staff and they put in money, and we MADE IT!

We, the candy gram elves, think that this whole event REALLY gave meaning to the spirit of the holidays. It made the WHOLE SCHOOL feel good!

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The students at the Scholars’ Academy, an accelerated college preparatory school for grades 6-12, located in Rockaway Park, Queens, understand the value of being good citizens and the need to give back to the community. This is especially true during the holiday season.

Over 150 sixth-graders and nearly 100 seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth-graders signed up to visit five different senior centers throughout the Rockaway community and helped decorate storefronts for the holidays. The students wrote and recited original poems for the seniors and spent time visiting and spreading holiday cheer.

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The Robin Sue Ward School for Exceptional Children in Queens has a generous staff and student population. During the holiday season there are many examples of their generosity to be found, from the kitchen staff collecting 900 pounds of food for City Harvest, to one class collecting nearly $1,000 dollars in pennies as part of the Penny Harvest program. Another class organized a card and letter drive for our wounded soldiers stationed overseas. The school also collects Toys for Tots. The school has also been the recipient of generosity. For the eighth year in a row, Sotheby’s auction house hosted a holiday party for the students, which is always one of the highlights of their school year.

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At PS 269 in Brooklyn, Principal Phyllis Corbin established the Service Learners Club, which is made up of twenty fifth grade students who are supervised by teachers Nancy Harvey and David Glubo. The Club completed two major projects for the holiday season.

The first project was a food drive for City Harvest, for which they collected over 150 pounds of food. Club members took the food to Fire Department Engine Company 255, Ladder 157, a City Harvest collection site in Brooklyn.

For their second project, the students worked with City Meals on Wheels. They visited the Carted Burden Senior Citizens Luncheon Center in Manhattan and delivered hot lunches to 18 homebound senior citizens.

Club members also collected Toys for Tots and sent homemade cards to injured American soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

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The High School for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry in Manhattan has a community service club called CARE, "Community Activists Reaching Everyone."  The members of CARE volunteered at the 92nd Street Y Hanukkah Festival, and ran a variety of activities including face painting, clay lantern making, cookie decorating, arts and crafts, and more.

Natasha Hernandez, a twelfth-grader and co-president of CARE, said, “Participating in the Hanukkah Festival meant so much to me because I was able to put a smile on a lot of children's faces. Making them smile gave me this warm great feeling in my heart. It was the best.”

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Students from the J. M. Rapport School Career Development in the Bronx made several trips to the Food Bank warehouse in Hunts Point during the holiday season to help pack boxes of food for people in need. During one of their trips, the students met the cast and crew of Channel 11 news including Irv "Mr. G" Gikovsky.  The students enjoyed volunteering at the Food Bank and asked if they would like to continue going after the holidays.

Student Jhomar Rodriguez said, "I felt surprised that it felt so good helping other people."

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Kindergarteners and first-graders at PS 77/Lower Lab School in Manhattan organized a winter book drive.  The children did jobs at home to earn $5-$10 and then walked to their local Barnes and Noble to purchase books that they donated to The Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center.  All of the children participated and did jobs ranging from clearing the table to organizing closets—their work ethic is extraordinary!

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Harlem Renaissance High School is a fairly new small high school. In past years, the school was able to afford to produce a yearbook but that was not going to be the case this year. Thanks to a partnership with City Year the school connected with software giant Adobe and received a large donation of software so that students can produce their own yearbook this year.  Students are learning how to use programs that are literally "hot off the press" such as InDesign and Photoshop CS4.

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At PS 231 in Brooklyn, teacher Lisa Graham-Brewer has a student whose father is serving in Iraq. The school staff held a drive to collect treats for our troops in Iraq. The students, who have special needs, drew pictures and wrote lovely letters wishing our troops well. The letters were folded and stuffed into envelopes by the students and they also packed up three large cartons of all kinds of sweet treats and toiletries that they collected.  The mother of the student whose dad is in Iraq was overwhelmed with joy and was eager for the school’s donations to reach those who are not able to be home with their families this holiday.  Even the youngest and most challenged students can learn the value of helping and giving from the heart. 

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On Tuesday, December 16 William E. Grady Career and Technical Education High School  hosted its sixth Annual Skills USA Hope One Shelter Party.  Members of Skills USA, run by Alex Kravitz of the school’s CTE Department, collected toys from students and staff for the occasion. During the luncheon, prepared by Grady's own culinary arts students, Santa arrived and presented each child guest with a present for the holidays.

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Maribeth Whitehouse is a teacher at IS 190 in the Bronx. Whitehouse’s middle school students volunteered to read books to first-graders at PS 61, which shares the building with IS 190. The eighth-graders, who are special education students, worked hard to make sure that their reading would be fluid and enthusiastic.  The middle-schoolers also created questions such as, "What noise does the cow make?" to ensure that their younger reading partners would remain engaged. At the conclusion of the visit, the older students gave the books to the younger students as a holiday gift thanks to a donation of books from Scholastic.  Thanks to the cooperation of the two principals, the generosity of Scholastic, the dedication of the eighth-graders, and the cooperation of the young participants, the reading event was extremely successful with all parties enjoying themselves. Best of all, the students want to do it again!

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At PS 32 in Brooklyn, the occupational/physical/speech staff decided to spread some good wishes and holiday cheer by having the students in third, fourth, and fifth grades write Christmas cards, with get well wishes, to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

 Most of the children are on the autism spectrum so this was a teaching moment that got them to think about others. The children really enjoyed sharing their feelings, and  it allowed the teachers to give them a new perspective about helping others at the holidays, not always  with a gift, but by sending some kind  thoughts and caring words.