Cupcake Wars
The student council at Garnet Valley High School in Glen Mills, PA, holds Cupcake Wars several times throughout the year, where teachers and students get to show off their baking skills. The competition is heavily promoted via posters, announcements, and tweets, and students who retweeted the event were entered into a drawing to judge the cupcake contest. By charging $1 per cupcake, this was a delicious way to raise funds!
Serving Up Appreciation
The student council at Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, CA, wanted to do something to recognize their cafeteria workers. Each window in the cafeteria had a number assigned to it, and the faculty supervisor would tell each student to go to the first or second line, etc. Each window was managed by the same cafeteria worker every day. With this information, the students decided to make things more personal by hanging a photo of each worker next to their respective window and adding a name plate. Now, students are directed to Joe’s line or Anna’s line, instead of a number. The initiative really paid off—the students are now more familiar with the cafeteria workers and they appreciate them and call them by name.
Best Buddies Friendship Walk
The sophomore and junior classes at Arbor View High School in Las Vegas attended a Best Buddies Friendship Walk, which represents a great opportunity for students to grow closer, get to know individuals with special needs, and spread positivity throughout a community. NatStuCo students helped organize the event and the message of inclusion and encouragement had a great effect on all students who were a involved in the friendship walk.
Going to Great Lengths
The NHS chapter at Washington High School in Cherokee, IA, organized a “cut-a-thon” event during which nearly 25 students and teachers committed to get at least eight inches of their hair cut off by stylists and donated to Children With Hair Loss—an organization that provides free wigs to those younger than 21 who have lost their hair because of medical reasons. The event also featured several speakers who shared their journeys with cancer and outlined the impact the donations would have on the lives of others. The results of the service project were outstanding: Students collected 166 ponytails and raised $3,324.46 for the June E. Nylen Cancer Center in Sioux City, IA.
Positively
The NHS students at McAllen High School in McAllen, TX, decided to improve their school climate and student morale by hand-crafting 100 friendship bracelets—complete with notes of positivity—and attaching them to students’ backpacks. The good deed was done anonymously and had great impact in assuring students that someone, even someone they may not know well, cares about them.
To Your Stations!
An NJHS student at M. Clifford Miller Middle School in Lake Katrine, NY, volunteered at least once a week to assist second-grade students to help them review their math assignments, help solidify new concepts, and get through their math stations. The experience helped the student gain awareness of what teachers go through with their own classes. “I learned that you need to be patient to be a teacher,” the student says. “Even though I only worked with four or five students at a time, it was hard. Teaching struggling students to master basic math concepts like addition and subtraction takes a lot of patience.”
ASB Alliance
The Foothill High School (FHS) student council in Palo Cedro, CA, hosted an event called Associated Student Body (ASB) Alliance. They invited the two other high schools in their district to attend with the hope of uniting their programs. Student leaders were invited to the campus to discuss various leadership topics. Shirts were designed for all the school sites with the same design but different colors to represent each school. They brought in a guest speaker, had their superintendent speak, offered breakout sessions for the student leaders that were run by FHS student council members, played team bonding games, and ended the event with a mini dance.
Compudopt
The Post Oak School NHS chapter in Bellaire, TX, partnered with a nonprofit organization called Compudopt, which receives charitable donations and pre-owned computers and redistributes them to those in need. High school students recognized the need of a local elementary school and spoke with the principal to organize an event to distribute 93 computers to the students and teach them how to use the devices. The event was a great success.