Team Give a Smile
In the fall of 2020 as the school year began, it was apparent that Grade 6 Service Learning was going to look different. While the focus would still be on homelessness and poverty, they weren’t going to be serving food to the unhoused or doing many of the other projects they’d undertaken in the past.
Sixth grader Marcela N. had an idea. Could they start a club to do good? She presented it to her classmates, and “Team Give a Smile” was born. Since all learning was remote at the beginning of the year, students in all four classes were able to join the discussions on Zoom. Marcela was named president, and they got to work.
Guided by Sixth Grade Math Teacher Jolene Collier, team members reached out to the Graland Parent Association (GPA) to see if there were any opportunities to work with them on their community outreach projects. A partnership was born and students were soon marketing a nonperishable food drive to benefit Denver Rescue Mission.
In January, Marcela and several of her classmates made a presentation to the GPA to share what they’d been learning about homelessness and poverty this year.
“Our service learning program is about homelessness and poverty,” Marcela said. “We learned that there are over 6,104 homeless people in Denver alone. In Colorado, there are more than 9,619 homeless people: 1,068 of those are veterans, 719 are family households, 545 are unaccompanied young adults (ages 18-24), and 2,187 are individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.”
Her empathy was on full display as she continued, “I think it is disappointing and shocking that 1,068 homeless people are veterans. They risked their lives for us and this country, and to keep us all safe, but now, they don’t even have a safe shelter or enough food for themselves.”
Her sixth-grade peer Maggie S. went on, “Homelessness is a big problem. We need to change how these people get shelter and have more jobs that pay more. We are learning about policies that would help people who are homeless and ways that we can become advocates. Did you know that Denver recently passed a 0.25% sales tax increase? This is 2.5 cents for a $10 purchase. This sales tax increase is expected to raise $40 million per year to fund housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness.”
“Due to COVID, we are not able to do that this year, so we have decided to take action in other ways,” said William P. “We have some exciting fundraiser ideas for ways to raise money so that we can make toiletry kits and other items that would support people experiencing homelessness.”
Elena R. explained, “We are happy that you have invited us to join the GPA with a non-perishable food drive.” The group created posters to promote the drive throughout the school and made a presentation via Zoom to publicize the drive to Middle School students. Food was collected by the students during carline from Jan. 19-23. Students counted and sorted items, which were donated to Denver Rescue Mission.
Team Give a Smile is planning projects and activities throughout the year to help the greater good in our community. Stay tuned to find out how you can help.
At Graland, service learning begins in kindergarten, and each grade level has its own program. As the sixth-grade food drive demonstrates, advisors have had to modify and innovate this year. For more information, contact Mrs. Collier at jcollier@graland.org.
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
