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Team 7B Service Project Article

Over the past month, the entire 7B team at Carlton Washburne has been working to help four charities including Project Linus, Cradles to Crayons, PADs Homeless Shelter, and One Warm Coat. We help Project Linus by providing blankets to those in need. Cradles to Crayons is a clothes charity that we help by providing clothing for children 0-12. The PADs Homeless Shelter program helps communities to provide overnight shelter and food to those in need. The final charity is One Warm Coat, we are helping it by supplying warm coats to children and adults. During our academic classes we also learned about hunger and poverty through the lenses of the subject. Here’s an idea of what we did in each class:

English: 

Following this unit, we began a study of the poverty and hunger crisis, both on national and local scales. Oliver dug in on this topic through a variety of articles and picture books in order to gain a better understanding of the problem and to begin to think about the impacts this crisis has on society at large. We then dug into the importance of empathy and respect while trying to find some solutions to help those less fortunate. Throughout the final three weeks of this trimester, students engaged in Project Based Learning around this topic and worked on a variety of tasks including fundraising, web design, documentary filming, community outreach, food, coat, and blanket drives, and providing meals for a homeless shelter.

Social Studies:

Students read Mahmoud’s story from Alan Gratz’s Refugee and watched the Frontline documentary Poor Kids to understand what poverty looks and feels like. They wrote essays on the problems refugees face when fleeing their homelands, incorporating passages from Mahmoud’s experience fleeing Syria and traveling through seven countries to seek asylum. We calculated the cost of living for a family of four in the Chicagoland area and compared that to the annual salary of an individual making minimum wage. Students used these resources to cultivate background understanding as they execute service work these next two weeks.

Science: 

Over the past couple of weeks, students started to learn about the different building blocks of life, which are acquired through consuming food.  We discussed the essential building blocks of life and how they contribute to cellular function.  Next, we examined the Dietary Guidelines for Americans set by the USDA, to determine recommended levels of nutrition for 9-13 year olds.  Following that, students analyzed food labels from the school plate lunch, McDonalds, Chipotle, and Panera Bread to do a nutritional cost analysis to determine how much money each of the different building blocks of life (Protein, Carbohydrates, and Lipids) cost per dollar.  This led to discussion about stretching your dollar, and how families living with governmental support acquire the proper levels of nutrition, and how the lack of nutrition can affect your performance at school.  This ties into the team wide PBL project centered around poverty and hunger.

Math:

Students watched a video on food insecurity in Jackson, MI.  We discussed factors that contribute to food insecurity and its effects.  Students researched food insecurity in Chicago and how this impacts individuals and families.  They were given the task to research and collect data around hunger and poverty in Chicago and create a comparison graph to other states, cities, or neighborhoods using: histogram, bar graph, pie chart or line graph.