The school hosted a canned food drive for their week of giving, the week before Thanksgiving, to support the community and bring Thanksgiving spirit to the school. The food drive was a collaboration with the Student Government Association (SGA), the school’s club So What Else, the National Honor Society and Patriot Ambassadors. The donation drive and spirit days went from Nov. 17 to Nov. 21.
The canned food drive and giving week spirit dress-ups and activities were planned to get the school as involved as possible. According to SGA and National Honor Society member and Patriot Ambassador junior Alex Rabin, the week of giving took three to four weeks to plan to make the drive successful.
The SGA sought out a way to bring the school together as well as the community with food donations and school spirit. While donations were over 700 items, showing support for the community during the Thanksgiving holiday, having the spirit week activities and outfit options encouraged fun and celebration toward the upcoming holiday break.
The week of giving brought students and staff together with activities throughout the week and spirit days.“I wore my Syracuse sweatshirt on the college gear day because I find spirit days really fun,” sophomore Sophie Hammerman said.
One part of the week of giving included spirit-day dress-ups each day. With college gear day, other spirit days included flannel day, onesie and pajama day, anything-but-a-backpack day and fall colors Friday. Grade-level participation in dressing up day to day also earned Patriot Cup points.
Games were held in the Commons, organized and run by SGA members. These included “Guess how much candy,” a mural on Monday, college-style games on Wednesday and two food trucks in the lower lot for Food Truck Friday during lunch on Nov. 21, to close the week of giving and celebrate the food drive. Read more about it in this article.
Students and staff could donate canned goods, and non-perishable foods were also accepted. Donations were collected in the designated donation boxes outside the pillars and in the main office. “I donated five cans and Thanksgiving-type food like potatoes,” National Honor Society and Patriot Ambassador junior Meara Liebetrau said.
The SGA displayed a large poster in the Commons window to track donations. Updated daily, the poster was divided by grade level and teachers and used different-colored leaves to symbolize donated food items, with each leaf representing 10 cans or items. The grade that contributed the most cans received patriot cup points. “The poster in the Commons is a good indicator of how many donations have been received. It’s fun to see and it makes me feel good as we are helping others less fortunate than us,” Patriot Ambassador sophomore Amelia Crespen said.
Following the donation drive, the items were distributed to the community. “The school’s club, So What Else, is bringing the cans and nonperishable food items to its headquarters to be donated,” Rabin said.
