CH East Interact Club - 2022-23 Events

CH East Interact Club

Final Event: Bret Harte Spring Cleanup

Bret Harte Elementary School Cleanup

SUNDAY, JUNE 4th, 2023 from 2pm-4pm

We pulled weeds, picked up trash,

and put in Spring/Summertime decorations.

GCSSEF Autism Color Walk/5K Run

SUNDAY, MAY 21st, 2023

Interact Club joined GCSSEF for their Annual Autism Color Walk/5K Run. GCSSEF President Tom Storer generously provided a bus to get us to the walk/run. The purpose of this event is to raise funds and awareness for local programs (Respite Care, Social Skills and more!), supporting special needs children and families in the Gloucester County School District.

Cherry Hill Environmental Board Pollinator Garden

SATURDAY, May 13th 2023 (9am-12pm)

The Cherry Hill Environmental Board (CHEB) has created a Pollinator Program to address the need to support pollinators, including the iconic Monarch butterfly. One of the key ways is to create pollinator gardens. The project is to help these pollinator gardens by weeding, watering, planting, applying compost, etc.

Rotary Canstruction

On May 6th, Interact Club joined our sponsor, the Rotary Club of Cherry Hill, to participate in this year's Canstruction project. With help from Ravitz ShopRite, Interact and Rotary used 2,489 cans to build Mario Kart, designed by Rotarian, Dave Lummis.

Canstruction is a nonprofit organization that hosts annual competitions, showcasing structures made entirely of cans of food.

ALL cans used at the Canstruction are donated to the Food Bank of S. Jersey

Woodcrest Kindergarten Reading

We went to Stockton Elementary School on TUESDAY, MARCH 28th

Each Interact Club student brought a Kindergarten-level book to read to and gift to a Kindergarten student at Stockton.

We also did a Community Service coloring project with the Kindergarteners, and introduced our new friends to the classroom (and they introduced us & talked about their book to the class).

Teacher Appreciation

Students wrote letters to teachers/guidance counselors at Cherry Hill HS East to tell them how important they are to them. We didn't want to do this on Teacher Appreciation Day because we wanted them to know that they do not need one special day a year to show our appreciation for them. They should know they are truly appreciated every single day. All letters were put in teacher mailboxes before Spring Break.

JRA South Jersey Food Distribution

SUNDAY, MARCH 19th

9:15am-11:30am

Jewish Relief Agency (JRA) serves individuals and families coping with food insecurity.

During JRA's Monthly LOCAL Food Distribution program, volunteers pack and hand-deliver free, nutritious food and essential household supplies to individuals in need. Volunteers of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome to volunteer. Feel free to bring a group of friends!

Love Letters for Literacy

In January and February, we met in the Cafeteria after school with our notecards, colored pencils, crayons & stencils. Students worked alone & in groups, and the only rules were to...

BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN!

AFTER SCHOOL in CAF I:

Monday 1/9, Tuesday 1/17, Thursday 1/19, Monday 1/23, Tuesday 1/24, Tuesday 1/31, Thursday 2/2, Tuesday 2/7 & Thursday 2/9

Started by NJ student Jordan Grabelle of Voorhees. The purpose of the project is to equip families in need with handmade literacy kits to make teaching the letters of the alphabet easy and fun! Love Letters sets out to change the fact that lower-income children may know only 1 or 2 letters of the alphabet when entering kindergarten, compared to middle class children who know all 26!

Completed sets of cards & papers were due to Ms. Barr in A015 by Tuesday, 2/14).

WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE 80 FULL SETS OF LOVE LETTERS FOR LITERACY to DONATE!

Each Love Letters for Literacy Kit includes:

All 26 Letters of the Alphabet (on individual notecards)
Handwritten Letter (see template for what to write)
Printed Directions for Games (in English and Spanish)

PUT ALL OF THE ABOVE IN A ZIPLOC BAG

2019 - English Spanish LLL.pdf

PRINT THIS FOR YOUR LOVE LETTERS KIT

TEMPLATE HANDWRITTEN NOTE FROM VOLUNTEER TO CHILD.pdf

WRITE A LETTER FOR YOUR KIT, USING THIS TEMPLATE

MLK Jr Day of Service

On SUNDAY, January 15th, we joined Temple Beth Sholom for the following activities in observance of MLK Jr Day of Service:

-Cooked meals to be donated to Jewish Family & Children's Services clients

-Baked dog biscuits that will be donated to Voorhees Animal Orphanage

-Made sandwiches and put together bagged lunches for homeless shelters in Camden

-Created fidget toys for the JCC Open Hearts Open Doors program

Put together chemo comfort bags for Cooper University Hospital

-Decorated vases to be donated to Lions Gate as centerpieces in their dining room

-Knit/crocheted hats and scarves that will be donated to Juntos

-Packed boxes of food for Jewish Relief Agency clients

-Learned from League of Women Voters about voter rights

-Learned from Moms Demand Action about gun safety advocacy

-Wrote letters to elected officials supporting rights of refugees

Cooper School Family Math Night

Interact Club Members helped facilitate the various activities at Cooper Elementary School's Family Math Night on

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12th, 2023

Stockton Kindergarten Reading

We went to Stockton Elementary School on TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13th

Each Interact Club student brought a Kindergarten-level book to read to and gift to a Kindergarten student at Stockton.

We also did a Community Service coloring project with the Kindergarteners, and introduced our new friends to the classroom (and they introduced us & talked about their book to the class).

Pulsera Project

CLICK HERE

to see what the Pulsera Project is all about

Interact Club, Spanish NHS and Latinos & Amigos sold 243 bracelets and 15 bolsitas for the PULSERA PROJECT

The Pulsera Project provides sustainable, well-paying work opportunities for artisans in Nicaragua and Guatemala, most of whom make colorful hand-woven bracelets, or “pulseras” in Spanish. The project then creates a market for their artwork by partnering with schools across the U.S.

Pulseras will be sold for $7 here in our school, and the proceeds will be invested in a wide range of social impact programs in Nicaragua & Guatemala, including:

*Sustained employment for nearly 200 artists

*Secondary education programs

* University scholarships for artisans and their families

*Healthcare for artisans and their families

*A housing program for artisans and their families

*Environmental initiatives

*Support for other social enterprises doing impactful work in these countries

We hope this will be a highlight of the school year as students engage with the beauty of Latin American culture while lending support to these skilled artisans and their communities!

Interact Club Shirt

AND OUR NEW INTERACT SHIRT FOR 2022-23 is.....

CONGRATULATIONS RYAN MELNICK!

World Kindness Day Chalk Art

Hallow-Cleanup

We held our 7th Annual HALLOW-CLEANUP Friday, October 28th, 2022 during LBs

Chocolate Bar Fundraiser

Congrats to our TOP 6 SALES PEOPLE:

Judianna Abrams (10th Grade) - 1200 Chocolate Bars Sold

**NEW RECORD**

Finn Yeary/Bella Martinez (10th Grade) - 1020 Chocolate Bars Sold
Abby Aquino (11th Grade) - 720 Chocolate Bars Sold
Aaliyah Mezilus (11th Grade) - 660 Chocolate Bars Sold
Megan Lee (9th Grade) - 420 Chocolate Bars Sold
Lillian Tan (10th Grade) - 378 Chocolate Bars Sold

With all your hard work, we were able to raise a total of $3,000.00

to donate to the Gloucester County Special Services Education Foundation!

*Please read GCSSEF here: https://www.gcssef.org/

Judianna (1200 chocolate bars)

Finn/Bella (1020 chocolate bars)

Abby (720 chocolate bars)

Aaliyah (660 chocolate bars)

Megan (420 chocolate bars)

Lillian (378 chocolate bars)

Light the Night

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15th

Interact Club volunteered at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's "Light the Night" in three shifts from 12pm-9pm, helping with set up, booth sales, and clean up.