March

A Student Council Making A Difference!

  

Team Building Ideas
This story comes to us from Sacred Heart Parish School in Hollister, California. Hollister's Free Lance newspaper ran this story Friday, March 7, 2003.
 
By Kollin Kosmicki
Kollin Kosmicki/Free Lance
Left to right, Sacred Heart Parish School sixth-grader Alison Blake, fifth-grader Jennifer Faraone, Sharen Johnson of the American Cancer Society and seventh-grader Morgan Taylor hold a check for $1,042,85 from the school to Relay for Life. Sacred Heart students raised the money in their annual Penny Drive.

Students at Sacred Heart Parish School collected $1,042.85 through the school’s annual Penny Drive this year and presented a giant check for that amount Thursday to a representative from the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

The fundraiser drive took place in the school’s classrooms Feb. 11-14. The friendly competition among classes was broken down into two divisions - pre-kindergarten through first grade and second through eighth grade.

Each room had its own jar, which students filled with pennies. However, students could “sabotage” other classes and drop any silver coins - nickels, dimes or quarters - into their jars. The amount of silver money was then subtracted from the total, and the winners received a “free dress” day, a luxury as the private school maintains a dress code.

This year a first grade class and fifth grade class won.

“They need to be congratulated,” said Sharen Johnson, who received the check, “because they’re giving back to the community.”

Johnson’s grandson, Christopher Faranoe, died of cancer in 1999 at the age of 3, which prompted her to become more involved in awareness of the disease.

Relay for Life is an annual nationwide 24-hour fundraising walk that will be held in Hollister Aug. 8 and 9 at San Benito High School’s Andy Hardin Field. Fifty teams from the community solicit pledges for the amount of time team members walk. All proceeds go toward cancer research.

“This school has been so wonderful,” Johnson said of Sacred Heart’s past and present support of Relay for Life.

Two students from the seventh-grade class - David Clark and Madison Eastman - are recovering from cancer, so the students at Sacred Heart are aware of the disease’s effects. Class representatives choose a different charity each year.

“It’s fun,” said seventh grader Morgan Taylor, “and we can raise money for a charity we know.”

An Irish Blessing

May soft gentle breezes brush o'er your face,
For each loving touch is God's warm embrace.
May you have enough for all that you need,
And never be hurt by another one's greed.
The Lord keep you safe from terrible things,
And at the end of this life, lift you up on His wings.

We are over the halfway mark for this school-year, and you may be experiencing a bit of stagnant enthusiasm from the student council.  Here are a few fun and easy games to play to help generate a bit more pep!

Grocery Store...
Some of your P.E. teachers may already play this game with the student body, so ask around to see who might be familiar with this team building exercise.  However, if this game is new to you, here are the simple rules and guidelines.

First off, set up stations in your gym or playground.  The stations should consist of different items such as pylon cones, jump rope, crates, boxes, etc.  The idea is for the student to go to each station and attempt to pick up and carry as many items as they can, and then carry them away from the station.  The students will laugh to witness their friends trying to manage carrying several items around the gym.  It is simple and hilarious!

Make up your own game...
Using some of the items named in the above game, set up a pile of miscellaneous items in the center of the room.  The goal for the team is to work within a specific time frame to collaborate on inventing their own game.  The team must develop rules and regulations for the UNIQUE new game and then have some fun playing their new invention!
 

Electricity... two forms...
Have your student council sit in a circle and hold hands.  Have someone outside the circle keep time on a stop watch, or digital watch.  Designate one person as the leader to start the exercise.  Each student council member is then instructed to close their eyes and when told to begin, the leader gently squeezes the hand of the person on their left.  Once that person has their hand squeezed they pass the "charge" to the next person.  When the "electricity" is sent through the whole "circuit" and reaches the leader, the leader then calls stop.  At this time the time keeper records the time.  I have been told that the world record for a group of 25 is 7 seconds.... now try to beat that!

A second take on the above game requires the members of the student council to form two rows of 10 to 15 people. A leader is designated at the front of the rows.  Each leader then flips a coin.  If the coin lands on "tails," nothing happens.  If it is heads, the first person in the lines squeeze the next persons hand and it gets past down the line. The last person in either line wants to be the first one to pick up an object (cone, whistle, yard stick) when the squeeze goes down the line.  The losing team must do something, such as sing a song, or something else embarrassing!

SUMMER CONFERENCE IS COMING SOON...


MENLO COLLEGE
      Menlo, California - JUNE - , 2003
PITZER COLLEGE #1
      Claremont, California - JULY - , 2003
PITZER COLLEGE #2
      Claremont, California - JULY - , 2003
NEUMANN COLLEGE
      Aston, Pennsylvania - AUGUST - , 2003

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