This week we started a project very near and dear to our hearts--a memorial to Marybeth Wade who passed away this past winter. She left quite a legacy, and we wanted to honor her in some way. Things kind of fell into place--like they often do when something is just "right." The first step--planting a weeping cherry tree in the front of the building--is now complete. We will also do some sort of dedication in the spring. Who knew that a group of 20 or so elementary students could plant a tree during a 30 minute recess with minimal adult help?? I certainly didn't! But I forgot that these kids are not your run-of-the-mill fourth and fifth graders. Please check out Ms. Wade's tree next time you come to Cherry Creek. We hope it makes you smile. |
Tuesday's MeetingAt Tuesday's Early Act meeting, we prepared Early Act students for our Purple Pinkies for Polio day today. We watched a video from Rotary's YouTube channel. If you are interested, you can view the video here: https://www.youtube.com/user/RotaryInternational There are several videos, all with the theme of "This Close." The significance of "this close" is that since 1988 (when Rotary and it's partners made the commitment to eradicating the disease), the number of cases of polio has been reduced by 99.9%! Just since last year when we did Purple Pinkies for Polio (read about it here), two more countries have been dropped from the list of countries who have had recent polio cases. There are only two countries left--Pakistan and Afghanistan. Purple Pinkies for Polio!As mentioned above, Rotary has been involved in the eradication of polio for a long time (since 1988). Our district has gotten involved through the Interact groups at the high school and middle school and the Early Act groups here at Cherry Creek and at Alto. All four schools had something similar going on this week. Some were collecting donations (a vaccination costs as little as sixty cents), but we chose to raise awareness rather than money.
The slideshow above shows some of the students Early Act members educated about polio during lunch today. Our members each had a list of polio facts they were teaching their fellow students. If the kids could repeat at least one fact they learned, then we painted their pinkie purple! You can see how excited the kids were to be involve! Why purple pinkies? Part of the Rotary initiative involves going to the countries where there are still cases of polio and vaccinating the kids there (polio effects kids under 5 the most). The vaccination is a drop of liquid in the child's mouth. It actually tastes really good and kids have been known to get back in line to get vaccinated again. In order to keep this from happening (those vaccinations are way to valuable to waste), the volunteers color each child's pinkie purple as they vaccinate them. Today we showed our support by learning a little about how polio effects other parts of the world and painting our own pinkies purple. The facts students learned to receive a purple pinkie are below!
We also talked about some craft ideas to add to our store. We are looking into forming a committee of kids who are interested in making crafts for the store outside of Early Act meeting time. We are also in need of a committee devoted to micro-financing on Kiva. A good problem we have is that the loans we have made are constantly being repaid, so we need to re-lend this money to others in need!! What a great way for students to learn about money and economics in an authentic way!
These pencils will be on sale exclusively at our Early Act Store on Tuesday and Thursday at lunch next week. Exciting to see the progress continue!
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Joseph Audia-Lead
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