8th Grade Community Project

Slides to guide you through the introduction to the Community Project and getting your journal started.

Student Interest Survey Link - this is due by Friday September 19th. - is now closed.

Here is the link to begin your process journal for your community project

www.bit.ly/CPJournal2526

Here are the slides from our Parent meeting on Monday September 8th. Thanks to all of you that were able to attend and thanks for all the emails with good questions and enthusiasm for the projects.

8th Grade IB Curriculum Night 2025

Check out slide #8 which has the link to the student survey.

The deadline to Submit the form is 9/19

Students and Supervisors should be matched by Tuesday September 23rd. (A Teacher Workday)

Possible topics when considering the 8th grade project.

You idea may not be on this list.... no worries! When you complete the student survey make sure you are describing what you want to work on.

REMEMBER You CANNOT RAISE / COLLECT MONEY for your project.

International Day of peace

Belmont Neighborhood Food Drive/Blessing Boxes

Veteran's Day Breakfast Autism Speaks Event

Tree Charlotte The Middle School Tool Kit

Clean Campus Media Center Organization

Diwali Celebration The Messages in the front of the school Marquee

International Festival Nutrition

Advocates for Street Clean up (Keep Charlotte Beautiful)

Music focus Block Love (feeding the homeless)

sports focus A Roof Above (Welcome Home Kit)

Alexander Street Park Clean-Up Preschool support (Near Piedmont)

Catawba River Keepers American Heart Association

Fall Campus Clean-up Cancer Awareness / Support

Piedmont Community Pantry Bicycle Drive/ ReCyclery support

Steve's Coats for Kids Turn the Lights off Campaign

Friendship Garden/Community Garden Supporting the Animal Shelter / Advocacy

Front Beds and Planters around the school Bike/Pedestrian Safety Campaign

Light the Night Leukemia/Lymphoma Foundation Walk

Support / advocacy for disabilities Anti-Bullying

theater focus

Mental Health

School Mural ( we approve a maximum of 3 per year) You must apply with a drawing of your proposal,

Nursing home/Elder Care

Add a mural to our Piedmont walls (we will approve 3) - There is an application process for painting a mural.

IN RED - someone has already requested to do that project. If you are still interested add it to your survey form and I can put you on a wait list in case someone changes their mind.

ON Friday September 12th, All 8th grade students will make a copy of their process journal with the guidance of their 6th block teachers. They will follow along with an informational video that will guide them through the process. Once they make their copy of the process journal they can begin with Objective A, Journal 1. They will share the process journal with their assigned supervisor once that is assigned and allow editing access to the journal.

All students will receive training on this IB Community Project on Friday Sept. 12th through their sixth block classes.

application for hosting an event

application for hosting a drive

application to paint a mural

The forms to host a drive or an event cannot be completed until the supervisor is assigned.

All Events/ drives must have supervisor approval and then must be submitted to Mrs. Thornburg and Dr. Barone for final approval.

Request to paint a school mural must include size, space, and drawing of the mural design.

This is last year's information, but you can see many of the questions are still applicable.

The community project is an IB continuation requirement and a Piedmont expectation. Please reach out to Mrs. Thornburg, the IB Coordinator, at maranda.thornburg@cms.k12.nc.us with any questions.

FAQ about the Community Project

When is the Community Project Due? The last objective (Objective D "Reflection") is due at the end of the Semester - January 17th, 2025
When is the actual Showcase? The 2026 Showcase will be Friday February20th, 9:35am
How does my child know about this project? The community project is introduced to students in seventh grade after they visit the 8th grade showcase. Students are asked to create a Google Document in their IB Portfolios for Community Project brainstorming. Then in 8th grade Mrs. Thornburg will meet with every student through their social studies class to go over the community project process journal and the selection of supervisors. This information is also on the morning announcements and shared through Principal Barone's Saturday messages.
How does my child know who his/her supervisor is? Students will complete the Student Interest Survey by Friday Sept. 19th. Mrs. Thornburg will use the survey information to assign the Students to their supervisors. We have lots of new staff members this year so students may be assigned to someone they do not know. Mrs. Thornburg, as well as homeroom teachers, are also available to offer additional support where needed. T
Does my child have to work alone on this project? Students may work alone, with a partner, or with two other teammates. No more than 3 students should be working together on this project. Choose partners wisely. Once you make this choice of partnership you are committed.
What if we have a plan, but we change our mind and want to do something else? Communication is Key. To change a topic students must get approval from their Community Project Supervisor. Note it may be double the work to change the plan, but it is also a good exercise to recognize when a plan needs to change and to manage the execution of the new plan/idea.
What happens if my supervisor does not respond to my emails and I do not have the supervisor as a teacher this year? If a student is having difficulty communicating with the supervisor please reach out to Mrs. Thornburg as soon as possible.
Does my community project have to be done at school? No, the community project can be completed in a broader community (with adult supervision) . The project could be done completely in the student's neighborhood, place of worship, or with an organization that does not include exclusively Piedmont students and families.
What if I can't think of a project idea? No worries. This is the first time students have had an assignment on this kind of scale. Adults are here to help you. Please reach out to Mrs. Thornburg with ideas. We have lots of needs at Piedmont that students could tap into. Check out the list below......

Community Project Showcase 2023

CP Showcase Video 2020.mp4

C.P. Showcase Slidshow

Check out Holden Vallimont's Community Project. He hosted a soccer clinic for young people in his neighborhood. Go to the last slide to see his video. This is an example of an excellent project.

Great Job Holden!

Port Pillow Project donation to the Levine Cancer Institure

Street clean-up to support KCB - Keep Charlotte Beautiful Campaign (Fall 2022)

Piedmont Students making an impact on our community 2022

Hungry and Homeless event Fall 2022 - students invited guest speaker from non-profit, Block Love to speak and set up two rooms to dispell myths about homelessness and a poverty simulation activity called Pay/Spent. 50 students attended this after school event

The International Day of peace activities were planned and managed by 8th graders Claire and Nora. All students were engaged in activities for this early release day. Sixth and Seventh grade students earned service hours for participating in this event.

Students worked to collect food for the annual Belmont Community Food Drive to support our neighbors in need. (fall 2022)

Drew Dang hosted the Block of Love Event in uptown Charlotte to feed serve food to some of our Neighbors in need.

Thanks for a successful event and thanks to all the Piedmont families that volunteered 2/19/22

Jimmy, Jason, and Emmanuel are working to restore our Little Food Pantry that was built last year to help food our neighbors in need. Over the summer someone vandalized the pantry and now these young men are going to be rebuilding it so we can continue to help our neighbors. WSOC TV has partnered with us and Lowe's Home Improvement will be helping as well with supplies and building assistance.

Brycen and Wyatt are working with WSOC TV to manage a coat drive to support Steve's Coats for Kids. They will kick off their campaign next week and it will continue through Dec. 15th. Their goal is to collect 550 coats.

Rafael and Vaughn Reed built and installed a Little Food Pantry in front of our school. They have it well stocked with non-perishable foods, toiletry items and even some books. If you or your family would like to donate some food items - just put them neatly in our pantry. If the pantry is full - drop them off in the front office and we will stock the pantry as needed. Great job guys. Check out their news piece on Instagram at wsoctv or HERE

Julian Boyce collect an insane amount of coats to serve our community in need. Now more than ever people need to stay warm to survive. Julian tapped into the Steve's Coats for Kids campaign at WSOC TV to organize the drive. Check out his story here

Community Project Spotlight

8th Grader Francisco Martinez is working on keeping our Community Garden alive and active by creating an Adopt a Bed Program. sixth and seventh grade students adopted a garden bed to manage so that we can maintain safe distances and work at their own pace. At this time all beds are adopted out and we have Kale, Lettuce, a Variety of Greens, Red Cabbage, and cauliflower growing in the beds.

Another Community Project Spotlight - go to our Peace Day Tab....

8th Grade Community Project Slides Presentation 2223.mp4

Show Case Slides should include:

Topic/Project Title and Student names (group or individual project)
Goal of your project - Agency supported or cause that is being supported or advocating for.
The Global Context connected to your project
The IB Learner Profile connected to your project
The Approaches to Learning Skills you used
What were your challenges
What were your successes.
Advice your would give to 6th and 7th grade students
Link to a survey for feedback from your audience. (Google Form)
Lots of pictures and / or a video of your action.
See the Soccer on the Block example below - and I have shared several slide examples on the video here.

Showcase Information

Check out the slides below for details for students to prepare for the Community Project Showcase on

February 9th, 2024

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