Frank students contribute to a better world and develop their service ethic by organizing and engaging in service, community partnerships, and events that reach out to our community. Many of our families rely on community services for food, shelter, and clothing. Traditionally, they are recipients and but not the providers of community service. We believe that individuals should never feel shame for needing support but also benefit from reaching and helping others.
"We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give." -Winston Churchill
Better World Day 2018 in Kenosha
Better World Day on May 4, 2018 was a day where EL Education schools across the country participated in service projects to make their schools and communities better while also teaching students that if everyone does a little bit how beautiful our world can be.
For our second Better World Day on May 3rd, 2019, students at Frank Elementary School participated in many different service projects throughout the Kenosha community.
This year we aimed to reach higher on Better World Day and accomplished our goal. Here is a summary of some of the events that took place:
Beautiful Spaces at Frank
Each vertical crew was given a location in the school and given the task of making it a beautiful space. One vertical crew was given the vestibule area, which is where all visitors enter the school. As a crew they decided to make a colorful welcome sign using their hand prints with a bulletin board underneath to hang up important information for visitors and families. They also decided to paint a garbage can with their hand prints on it so visitors had a place to throw away garbage before coming into the school. Other vertical crews made “welcome” and “thank you” signs where the teachers and pre-k students enter the building. In the lunchroom and gym, vertical crews made banners each with a different character trait on them. In the hallway a vertical crew made a poster with the quote “bloom where you are planted.” Every student in the school is participating with their vertical crew to improve computer labs, hallways, lunchrooms, bathrooms, and entrances! This is a bright school that is now beautiful!
UNICEF Kid Power Program
The fourth graders in Crew 210 participate in UNICEF kid power school program. The program describes it in this way: “Students go on Missions to complete standards-aligned lessons and activities, where they learn about different cultures and UNICEF's work to help children everywhere survive and thrive.”
The students are given wrist bands to wear at school. They earn points for moving, each time they complete 10 Kids power Pack Videos or accumulate 12,000 steps they unlock a therapeutic food packet that is sent to a child in another country.
K/1st Grade Expedition: Farm to Table
Students learn about the journey their food takes from the dairy farm and apple orchards to their plates. As part of the culminating activity, students made recipe cards that they sold to friends and family. The money they earned was brought to the local grocery store where they purchased canned and dry goods. They walked those items to the local food pantry to donate to the community.
1st Grade Expedition: Music to My Ears
Students in first grade learn about the science of sound and how sound is produced during this expedition. Students used their knowledge of pitch, vibration, and how various instruments produce sound to build their own maracas. The students took their instruments to a local nursing home and gave one maraca to each resident. The students demonstrated how to play the instrument and how to play a steady beat (also a music standard for first grade). The students sang songs they learned in music class and played their maracas with the nursing home residents.
4th Grade Expedition: Wisconsin
Each summer a farm in Kenosha County opens it gates to serve breakfast to the community and showcase the farm and its contributions. This event is attended by thousands of people. Fourth grade students researched and created products to be handed out in the gift bags to each person that attends. The product had a fact sheet and QR code to a video the students made about the dairy farms and products in Wisconsin.
Some other notable service projects: