Deer Park High School’s Senior Serve – Local12 from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
While the underclassmen were stuck taking state standardized tests, seniors at Deer Park High School outside Cincinnati spent the week engaged in helping more than a dozen non-profits in our area. We are grateful to Local12 for telling the story. This video was produced by the Service Learning Network, a project of Children, Inc’s Service Learning team.
Be Concerned is a privately funded food pantry located in Covington, Kentucky. It was established in 1968 as a Christmas store and became a food pantry year-round in 1987. Their mission is to honor the dignity and humanity of all persons. Be Concerned does this by providing choices to their customers through what Andrew Brunsman, Executive Director of Be Concerned, says this is part of the dignity model Be Concerned promotes.
Be Concerned provides eighty pounds of food to approximately 615 families a month who live in Boone, Campbell, or Kenton County. Additionally, Be Concerned provides senior home deliveries to 90 seniors at four sites, as well as fifteen seniors who are homebound. They also have started what Brunsman calls “the weekend project”, which provides 800 meals a month for low income children who do not get to eat over the weekend at John G. Carlisle and Latonia Elementary. Be Concerned also recently started the college student food securement at Mount St. Joseph University. Brunsman delivered 34 grocery boxes during their third delivery. Be Concerned also has a thrift store, called Betty’s Treasures, at their site that anyone can shop at that provides other essentials like clothes and other items for a home.
“It comes down to volunteers. We’ve learned here that the food will always show up. You can ask people for food and they’ll get it, but people don’t always have time. What we could use the most are consistent volunteers for any length of time,” said Andrew Brunsman, Executive Director of Be Concerned. As they grow their programs, they need more help. Be Concerned uses Signup genius on their Facebook page for volunteers to sign up. Brunsman also wishes they had a better digital presence to let the community know what new things were going on at Be Concerned. Additionally, with the weekend project, variety with the meals is important so they need more microwavable individual cups with protein.
Patricia Weber, a regular volunteer at Be Concerned said, “The best part about volunteering at Be Concerned is the smiles and the gratitude you see on their faces and just to see how grateful they are.
“I’m most proud of the legacy that Be Concerned has left in the community of people caring and sharing. I’m proud of them to think of how many Northern Kentuckians our volunteers have fed over the years. I’m really proud of our reputation in the community for helping people and doing it on a mostly volunteer basis,” said Brunsman.
To learn more about Be Concerned, visit their website at beconcerned.org or visit their Facebook page Be Concerned.
by Guest Blogger:
Julia Justice Hall is a sophomore at Thomas More College majoring in Communications. She is originally from Georgetown, Kentucky.
Goodridge ElementaryAfrica Final from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
The third graders at Goodridge Elementary School learned and participated in African art, dances, games, songs, and words, along with learning about the continent of Africa and the country of Kenya. Students learned about the scarcity of water throughout the world, but primarily in Kenya and hosted an Art and Talent Show to benefit a non-profit in Nairobi, Kenya.
AdamGuard from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
Adam Guard is the captain of the Thomas More football team and a motivational speaker based in Covington, KY.
The Northern Kentucky Youth Advisory Board brings together some of the top student leaders from more than a dozen high schools to engage and learn from each other. It empowers them to be agents of change in their schools and communities.
For more information, visit: https://nkyab.weebly.com/
First grade students at St. Clement collected items to donate to SAAP (Stray Animals Adoption Program) to help stray pets. They graphed the number of items each week on a hundreds chart, as well as on a large graph in the hallway. In math, students are currently learning about “one more, one less,” what number comes after, ones, tens, etc. Counting and graphing our collected items helped students practice the first grade standard “counting to 120 starting at any number less than 120.”
Students also baked dog biscuits and gave them to dogs we knew. When the students baked dog biscuits they learned about measurement as they followed the recipe, measuring out flour, salt, and water.
The students learned there are always people or animals in need of help. They learned you can do something for your community without getting anything in return and how good it can feel to do something for others.
SAAP was very grateful for the 182 items we collected for them. Student input was incorporated into the list of items to collect that they created. They also collectively came up with a goal to reach, which was 100 items. The students reflected in their journal about what they learned from this service learning project.
Fifth Grade Teacher Bob Runyan has created a dynamic outdoor classroom – a garden that’s teaching the kids all kinds of life and work skills.
Learn even more about the Latonia Elementary Herbmania and Urban Garden here: facebook.com/Latonia-Elementary-Herbmania-and-Urban-Garden
Latonia Elementary Garden from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
Conner Middle School and Thornwilde Elementary Help the Homeless and Hungry from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
This video features two service learning educational projects in Hebron, Kentucky. Students at Conner Middle School and Thornwilde Elementary are collecting items for the homeless and hungry in their area. This video was produced by The Service Learning Network of Children, Inc. We are grateful to Local 12, WKRC-TV for their support of the students’ work.
Second grade students at Yealey Elementary in Florence are creating book commercials to share their favorite stories with younger kids. Yealey’s Tina Zureick and Craig Dunlap brought the project to the school after attending the Buck Institute For Education‘s summer workshop in project based learning.
Yealey Elementary Book Commercials from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
Jill Morenz of The Catalytic Fund talks about the Northern Kentucky Picnic Table Project. For more information, please check out NKYPicnic.org
NKY Picnic Table Project Introduction Feb 4 from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
Fifth graders and their teachers at Kelly Elementary in Burlington, KY are creating a traveling exhibit honoring the region’s Gold Star veterans and their families.
Kelly Elementary Gold Star Veteran Project – Preview March, 2018 from Steve Oldfield on Vimeo.
