33. First Graders Make a Difference in the World

As one of their service learning activities, first graders use walk-a-thon funds to purchase reusable grocery bags. They attach a note with an illustrated conservation tip and donate the bags to Morton Williams Supermarket to be distributed to customers.

Service learning is a vital component of first grade. As educators, we want to prepare our students to become citizens of the world. We aim to cultivate respect, integrity, compassion, a sense of justice, and responsibility to our local community.

In September, the first grade launches a walk-a-thon, where students walk around the block ten times to raise money for various causes that are significant to them. Typically, the walk-a-thon raises $13,000 each year, a portion of which is donated to the New York Common Pantry (“NYCP”). Each House visits the NYCP to learn about the organization and to bag fresh food. The first grade teachers also serve dinner at the NYCP soup kitchen. During Thanksgiving week, the first graders make Thanksgiving lunches for NYCP patrons using funds raised from the walk-a-thon to purchase food and supplies.

We want our students to experience the idea of environmental responsibility. In honor of Earth Day, the first graders use walk-a-thon funds to purchase reusable grocery bags. Each student attaches a note with an illustrated conservation tip to the grocery bag. These bags are donated to Morton Williams Supermarket to be distributed to their customers. The entire grade walks to the supermarket to deliver the bags and proudly watches the bag distribution.

The balance of the walk-a-thon funds is distributed equally among the five houses and the children decide which charities will be the beneficiaries of the funds. First graders are empowered with the knowledge that they can make a difference in the world!
—Alison Goodman, Camille Ehrenberg, and Jamie Levin, First Grade House Advisors