Eighth graders in Adriana Galante’s Family and Consumer Science (FACS) class at Weber Middle School have been combining creativity with thoughtfulness as part of their community service project called “Birthday in a Box.”
The class researched ways they could contribute to their community by doing something a little more “outside of the box” from the traditional service projects. They decided on an endeavor that enabled them to use their advertising and artistic skills for the benefit of less fortunate children.
Galante’s students began with an advertising campaign, creating hand-illustrated signs and posting them through the hallways in an effort to secure donations of boxes and wrapping paper, as well as items to place in these boxes. They then created colorful “birthday boxes,” filled with birthday party items such as cake mix, frosting, candles, party hats, party favors, invitations and games—all designed to contribute to a future birthday party for the boxes’ recipients. Weber faculty members, as well as students, donated the items for the boxes.
“Community service is an integral part of our curriculum, so I introduced some ideas to the students and they were responsible for creating their own service project,” said Galante. “After assessing their interests, we created a hands-on lesson to engage them in learning about what interests them while making them feel good about themselves and helping others along the way.”
By the end of the project, 28 boxes were completed and given to Sister Kathy from Our Lady of Fatima Church, who will in turn distribute the boxes to families in the church’s outreach program. Sister Kathy also spent time with the FACS class and explained why this project was so meaningful and how grateful she is for the FACS students’ generosity and selflessness.
Past community service projects by Galante’s FACS students include toy and winter care packages donated to The Inn in Hempstead, toiletry kits for wounded soldiers and hand-sewn pencil cases for young students in El Salvador.
