Giving back to the community

Students, staff from San Diego Unified are active in the community during the holdiay season. Here are some stores.

Holmes' third graders spread joy to seniors Third graders from Mr. Blasé's class, Mrs. Celle's class, Mrs. Elliott's class, and Mrs. Leonardy's class traveled to Wesley Palms Retirement Home on December 5th. The students sang holiday songs to a large crowd of excited seniors. Then, the students had an opportunity to ask prepared interview questions and have a discussion with the seniors. The culminating activity involved seniors and students working together to make candy cane ornaments. This annual event has become a great way to spread holiday cheer throughout the community.
Collecting food at John Muir This photo shows some of the students of Peace Patrol/MLA with five large boxes of non-perishable food that they collected, with the help of the students, families, and staff of John Muir K-12 Magnet. The food they collected will go to the San Diego Food Bank, who assist more than 380,000 people each month. Also pictured are Laura Bellofatto-Principal and Barb Waller-teacher/sponsor. The Peace Patrol/Muir Leadership Academy is an amazing group of 16 fourth, fifth and sixth graders who are dedicated to helping students solve problems, promote good character, and make a difference in their community.
Crown Point Junior Music Academy in PB parade Students and community members from Crown Point Junior Music Academy participated in the Pacific Beach Holiday Parade on Dec. 15. "Wow. It was such a nice day and we had a lot of our families present." said Cathy Calderon, school secretary. "It was also a lot of fun to see many of our students and their families in the crowd cheering us on. It was a great experience."
Morse Food Giveaway A generous donation by Foresters allowed the Office of Children and Youth in Transition to provide food for almost 200 families at Morse High School during the first day of Thanksgiving break. For many families, the holidays are a time of extra hardship. Without the school breakfast and lunch programs, it is even more difficult to make ends meet. Fortunately, volunteers from First Investors and parent company Foresters, along with staff from Morse High School, the Office of Children and Youth in Transition and Feeding America San Diego were available to distribute food to a grateful group of families. Families from Morse, Fulton K-8, Audubon, Lee and Bell received food to help them through the break. Families were able to receive information about the Affordable Care Act and learn about community food resources and programs. Feeding America San Diego staff also provided recipes to help families stretch their food dollars. A special thanks goes out to Joyce Orona, Morse community assistant, and the wonderful school counselors Judith Percy, Ramona Garcia and Eli Salazar, who helped to notify needy families of the event.