Today is a great day!  We have some wonderful news to report.  We are making new “friends” around the globe by serving others.  At the beginning of the school year, we wrote a post about a summer book we read, A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park.  It’s based on the true story of Salva Dut who was a war refugee from Sudan, immigrated to the United States, and eventually made his way back to Sudan in order to drill wells so that the people who live in remote villages can have safe drinking water.  He even drills wells for the villages of the tribe who attacked his family and village.  Last week we had a Glow-in-the-Dark dance with all proceeds going to Water for South Sudan.  We raised $174.60.  It costs $15,000 to drill a well, but we hope every little bit helps.  If we each add a drop, eventually we’ll have a full bucket of water.

Also in February, our whole school participated in various fundraising activities for Shelter Box, an organization that provides aid to families in the throes of disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, or earthquakes.  Like Salva, these people have lost their homes and must find a way to live amid chaos.  Shelter Box provides boxes which contain tents, propane stoves, water, clothing, and even coloring books for children.  Each class in our school tried to raise $100, so that together we could purchase a $1000 Shelter Box.  The 6th grade class sold Valentine’s Day candy and raised $450- this included our student Cooper’s donation of all her birthday gifts given as a donation instead of as presents to her; the 7th grade held a used book sale and raised $374.69; the 8th graders did chores around their homes and donated their earnings to raise $120.  Our elementary students worked hard, too:  grades K-5 completed these service projects, respectively: brownie bake sale; Hershey’s kisses for your Valentine and chores at home; bake sale; pencil sale and cookie raffle; penny war- grades 4 & 5.  We think our school may have raised enough to send two Shelter Boxes.  We find out the grand total tomorrow!

After working hard to help new friends around the globe, we’d now like to connect with new friends through the 2014 Student Blogging Challenge!  We are already registered as a class, and this week we will register our student blogs.  We’d love to connect with you!

Let us know how you make a difference in the world!

What service do you do to make the world a better place?