Students in Mehlville School District’s GRATE (Gaining Real Achievement Through Enrichment) Summer Academy raised almost $1,800 to contribute to local charities and families in need.
At Bierbaum Elementary School and Blades Elementary School, students in the service-learning classes created items – including bracelets, stress balls, lemonade and bookmarks – to sell before school and at lunch and recess to fund their charitable endeavors. Between the two schools, students raised nearly $1,800.
Bierbaum students chose to spend their earnings on supplies to create cat and dog toys for Stray Rescue of St. Louis, floral centerpieces for the residents of Sherbrooke Village and to purchase and package diapers for the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank.
Blades students used their budget to purchase and package school supplies and sack lunches for families in need. Students also collected clothes for school nurses to distribute.
“Service learning is a chance for students to understand economics, supply and demand, and service in one educational and hands-on enrichment course,” said Brandon Schulte, principal of GRATE Summer Academy at Bierbaum, in a news release.
“We offered service learning because we feel it teaches important life lessons, while embedding important grade-level appropriate curriculum.”
