Edition: MMIXII-IX

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Columbus Students Serve Through Early Act

 

 

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Columbus Students Serve Through Early Act

The Columbus Early Act Leadership Club is a youth service club for the school that is committed to citizenship and leadership. Early Act is a structured club, similar to Rotary, where officers are elected. The elected officers help guide the clubs activities and events. For the 2008-09 school year, Early Act consists of 19 fifth grade students who were nominated for membership by their fourth Grade Teachers. These students work closely with adult teaching staff in order to achieve their goals. This years group has been hard at work on a variety of projects.

To start the year, we focused on our Box Tops for Education program, which runs for the duration of Columbus academic year. By clipping box tops off of a variety of General Mills products, Early Act can raise .10 cents for each box top submitted. Our first mailing of the year was in December and we shipped 7,500 box tops, enabling us to raise $750! Currently, Columbus is in the 92nd percentile nationally in money raised through the Box Tops for Education program. These funds allow us to undertake school improvement projects, engage in charitable donations and host fun school activities, such as school dances and spirit days.

Also ongoing throughout the year is our Recycling Program. In 2007-08, Columbus became involved in the School Recycling Program through the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority. Early Act students are Green Team members and assist every Friday, with collecting paper waste from all classrooms and offices in the school. The paper is then properly disposed of and is able to be recycled. This program teaches students the importance of protecting our environment and living green.

In November 2008, Early Act decided to get involved in a fundraiser to support a platoon of United States Marines stationed in Iraq. Mrs. Clark, one of Columbus 4th grade teachers, has a son there and was telling us about some of their supply needs. Early Act decided to get involved by having a Pajama Day at school in order to raise money for basic supplies that the troops needed. We were able to raise $259.00 that was used for supplies, as well as obtaining free shipping boxes to send everything out in.

In December, Early Act organized our annual food drive to benefit the Utica Community Food Bank. Even with the economy as bad as it is, our students and families stepped up and we were able to raise nearly 1,500lbs of food. In addition, we were able to submit a check for another $80.00 that was raised by having a Hat Day at Columbus. These efforts provided some much needed food for Uticas families in need during the Christmas holiday.

Going into 2009, the Columbus Early Act Club has a number of important upcoming projects and activities. At the moment, we are hard at work on the planning stages of the first ever Columbus 5th Grade Yearbook. Early Act will be putting the yearbook together and will also be covering some of the costs for printing and shipping. Also, in March 2009 Early Act will be running our annual Pennies For Patients fundraiser. This project raises money to benefit the fight against Childhood Leukemia. Early Act has been involved with this important cause for many years and last year we raised over $2,000!

In addition, come spring, Early Act will get involved in supporting the Ride for Missing Children. The club will raise money and also donate some of our own money to pay for the printing of additional posters of missing children. The Early Act club will also travel to the Center for Missing and Exploited Childrens Headquarters in Utica on the day of the ride to cheer and support the riders. Finally, as always, our 5th Grade Early Act students, along with their 4th grade counterparts will be attending Camp Russell in June for leadership training. Both the Utica Rotary and the Boy Scouts of America support this event annually, and it is always the day most enjoyed by our students and staff.

Jeremy Charles
Early Act Staff Coordinator
Columbus Elementary School

 

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