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January, 2008 Success Stories
The Pay it Forward Foundation is happy to announce that it recently funded the following projects:
Caring for Patients What a wide and wonderful array of projects! The idea behind "Caring for Patients" was to have students in grades 9-12 buy, purchase and prepare gift bags for hospitalized patients. Each student is preparing 3 gift bags with a variety of cheering items for the patients. Most important, each bag will have 3 note cards in it and the students will assist the patients in preparing thank you notes for the staff and others who have been particularly helpful in their stays. Each one of those thank you notes will also contain a business card made out in the patients name and asking the recipient of the notes to please 'pay it forward' to three more people who have helped them or been particularly kind in some way. The hospital is not a fun place to be but, hopefully, the students work will brighten the day, not only for the patients but everyone who receives and passes along kindnesses.
GOLD (Girls only Leadership Development) Prior to applying for the grant, these 30, 8 th grade girls had already signed a pledge with their school, promising to be positive role models for others. They decided to reach out to other girls through an evening of informational and fun sessions such as: Healthy eating, Drugs & Alcohol, Healthy Relationships, Leadership, Self Esteem and so on. The GOLD group then goes on to high school, mentoring and reaching out to other girls there in an effort to Pay it Forward. The high school girls who have gone through this experience before call it a 'life-changing experience' and say that it has given them enough confidence in themselves to 'just say no' when offered drugs, alcohol or relationships that were not healthy ones. Congratulations, GOLD-Pay it Forward is happy to help sponsor one of these events.
Pay it Forward with Books These are 20 student volunteers in the media center... The students select 20 staff and 20 other students to give new books to, anonymously. Each book will have a note of inspiration or appreciation in it and will ask the recipient to do 2 acts of kindness to 2 other people and will include the same kind of note, asking that it be 'paid forward'. The reason for anonymity is to promote the true spirit of giving with no thanks, just giving to give. The recipients also tend to be extra kind to everyone they meet since they have no idea of who the original donor of the book was. This idea of 'pay it forward' is also being presented to other faculty members with the idea of perhaps having a 'Kindness Day' at school several times a year. Great idea, everyone! Pay it Forward Kingdom of Kindness This is the wonderful idea of an 8 th grade teacher who was searching for an idea for teaching leadership. She happened to be watching TV one evening and saw the movie, Pay it Forward, again and it suddenly struck her that this would be a wonderful idea for her class. The door to the room is decorated as the Kingdom of Kindness ; a showing of Pay it Forward sets the stage and after the movie each student is given 3 Kindness tickets, downloaded from the Foundation website. When the student pays a kindness forward, they pass forward a ticket allowing the recipient to come to the Kingdom of Kindness room and get 3 more Kindness tickets to pay forward so this spreads out and kindness envelops the whole school, not just the one class and hopefully, out into the community. When a Kindness ticket is turned in the students name is added to the wall so that their kindness and generosity can be seen by all. Our congratulations to Sharon Tinnan, the teacher who thought of this. We need more teachers like you!
Math Masters A group of motivated and highly competent 5 th graders at North Columbus Elementary School has decided to take on the tutoring 2 nd graders in math skills. They will research teaching methods on line, compose a guidebook of tutoring skills and then commence to tutor in the all important skills that children need to succeed in math. Towards the end of the school year, the 5 th grade tutors will train a group of 4 th graders to become the the next tutors as soon as they get into 5 th grade, thereby carrying the program on. This not only helps the 2 nd graders but reinforces skills for the tutors, themselves. Hopefully, some of the 2 nd graders now being tutored will become tutors, themselves, as they get into the higher grades. Wonderful way to Pay it Forward!
Birthday Party in a Box Pink Elementary School has come up with a wonderful idea to help children less fortunate themselves.They have decided to make "Birthday Boxes" for children living at the women's shelters or in local foster homes. Frequently, these children get left out on important days like birthdays. The birthday boxes will be made out of shoe boxes, filled with such things as streamers, napkins, paper plates, decorations, balloons and gift cards for pizza and cake. Every child knows how much fun it is to have a birthday party and are very excited about the idea of creating a 'birthday party in a box' for others. In addition to the goodies inside the boxes, there will also be a note explaining the Pay it Forward idea and urging recipients to find some way of 'paying it forward', if not materially then with simple kindnesses to those around them. There's always a way to help others no matter what our own circumstances and the students at Pink School are finding this out. What a great idea!
Kimachipena (Let's all come together) Students at Sauk Language Immersion School have decided to "pay it forward' by achieving a better grasp of the Sac and Fox people, an Indian nation in Oklahoma . Once having become truly proficient in the language of their ancestors, these students will, though the use of language kits and workshops, help to pass their skills onto other Indian peoples in their nation. The declining use of the Sauk language has been detrimental to the history and culture of the Fox and Sac nation as a whole and, not only a loss to the Indian nation but to all Americans. At this time, only 10 individuals are fluent speakers of the language. These students have been raised with parents and grandparents who spoke Sauk and passed it on to these students. Noiw these students are trying, through hard work and study, to learn ways to teach others of their language and history. The ultimate goal will be that the Sauk language will be reintegrated into the Sac and Fox community as a whole as well as culture and history that may be lost once the elders have passed on. Very commendable idea and well worth the efforts!
If the above stories have you thinking about how you, too, could begin to 'pay it forward', then get together will fellow students and teachers and come up with your own ideas. Put together an application for a grant but remember--we get 100's of applications and many are not funded despite being great ideas ,because they don't clearly and specifically address the concept of paying it forward. Read the grant guidelines carefully and your school, too, may get a chance to PAY IT FORWARD!
April 2006 “Parables Community Theater has the Pay It Forward fever and we will continue to pass it on!” – Adrienne Richardson, Parables Community Theater, High Point, NC With a grant from the Pay It Forward Foundation, some 25 members of the Parables Community Theater ages 7-16, along with four adult volunteers, presented “Dorothy’s Easter Parade” at Evergreens Nursing Home in April 2006. The youth filled Easter baskets with Easter bunnies in a plastic egg and personal items needed by the senior citizens. Easter cards were also included, with a request to continue the Pay It Forward idea. The nursing home residents enjoyed skits, songs and dancing performed by the troupe, and the Parade concluded with the seniors joining in the singing of “Down the Trail We’re Coming.” Parables Community Theater is a faith-based nonprofit troupe founded in response to negative community influences in 2003 by community volunteers with theater, music, early childhood development, accounting and business backgrounds. Its mission is to strengthen and enhance the lives of underserved youth and build a bridge to the world beyond their communities through theater arts Alvin,
Texas Recent Pay It Forward projects completed by Alvin Primary third-graders: collecting change for “Pennies for Patients,” a charity organization for children with leukemia (they raised more than $1,500) and planting flowers for “Keep Alvin Beautiful” (view photos at www.keepalvinbeautiful.com). Students are expected to do something for someone else and expect nothing in return; they have participated in a Walkathon to earn money for the Alvin Meals on Wheels program, created get well cards and baked cupcakes and muffins for people in the hospital, danced and served refreshments at the Senior Citizen Hall Christmas Dance, and one boy “adopted” his neighbor at Christmas by putting up her Christmas tree and buying a gift and canned goods for her. Des
Plaines, Illinois With the help of a grant from the Pay It Forward Foundation, older and younger students learned about cooperation, teamwork, responsibility, respect for the elderly, social skills, planting, and number recognition. Seventh and eighth grade students were paired up with kindergarteners to make tissue paper-decorated plant cups, then fill the cups with Begonia flowers. All the students then visited a nearby retirement home to present the plants to residents, sign songs, recite poetry and play games. [Please pick up the photos that accompanied this story] San
Jose, California The August Boeger Jr. High Leadership Class sponsors a Pay It Forward project every month. Monthly projects have included filling four barrels of canned food for Second Harvest Food Bank to help feed the homeless, and helping four local families in need by selling candy canes to generate funds, and by collecting home and personal items as well as gift certificates from local stores, all so the families could have a wonderful Christmas. Exter,
Devon, England Discovering the Pay It Forward concept on the Internet, Priory School teacher Bryce Wilby was so impressed he decided to incorporate a Pay It Forward project into the school’s curriculum. He and his pupils have set up peer mentoring groups, school garden and grounds clean-up crews and a homework help club. Thomas
Jefferson Charter School Des Plaines, IL Priory
High School Exter, Devon, England August
Boeger Jr. High Leadership Class San Jose, California Mrs. Robbins and the August Boeger Jr. High Leadership Class Southern
Regional Middle School Manahawkin, NJ
We had a great time completing our project. We thank you for the inspiration. We look forward to making this a yearly event for our team. Barbette Lovas Southern Regional Middle Schoo St. Paul Catholic High School Bristol, CT The student's 9/11 fundraiser began on 9/12 and not only raised over $1,000 in a very short amount of time but also filled the front foyer of the school in two days with water, food and clothes for the men and women fighting to save lives in NYC. Another project was to surprise classes with parties and the only thing that was asked was for that class to pay it forward to another class. Each class tried to outdo the other class with parties that were themed. Some of the themes were a day at the movies, a fiesta and a luau. The students sent cards to troops overseas, made cards at Christmas time and sent them to the nursing homes around the city. They challenged students at a Pay it Forward assembly at the beginning of the year to perform random acts of kindness. The kids responded in various ways and were very vocal in sharing how they "paid it forward". There was also a Pay it Forward class week where the officers of the freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes respectively paid it forward to their classmates during the week. Southwestern
College, Winfield Kansas Port
Malabar Elementary Palm Bay, Florida Alvin
Primary, Alvin, TX, Mrs. Nichols 3rd grade class
Bentley Junior High School, Burton, MI Two years ago, eighth grade students working on conflict management came up with peace activities and the idea for a rally. Throughout the year, Bentley Pride cards are given to students who do a kind deed voluntarily. Students turn cards into the office, receive a bulldog pencil, and are entered into a monthly drawing for a $5.00 gift certificate at Subway. b)eighth grades visited 516 grade classrooms where they discussed the attack on America, and demonstrated positive ways to manage your anger. c) red and white points are given for the activities through the week and at the rally. The points are awarded during the school year for various activities, such as: food drive, Humane Society contributions, Drug Free sign up, and school spirit days. Tuesday, December 4, 2001 was Pay It Forward Day--two cards were be passed from one student to another from each room throughout the day indicating their name and good deed he/she had done for someone. Idea taken from the book/movie, Pay It Forward. Sea
Park Elementary Satellite Beach, FL Meadowlane
Elementary Melbourne, FL Lakeland High School Lakeland, FL Susan Glynn's 9th-12th grade Leadership Cadre is comprised of students who chose a mentoring program for their Pay it Forward project. In this project 30 high school students were assigned to assist in 15 elementary school classrooms for 12 weeks. To conclude their mentoring activity, the students researched and prepared four 30-minute age appropriate lesson plans that augment the teacher's unit of study. As the lesson plans result in hands-on learning experience, students used a Pay it Forward Foundation Grant to help purchase needed materials. Some of the student created lesson plans include: Cooking with Books, Phosphate and Fossils, and Travels with Trent the Turtle. Cocoa
High School Cocoa, FL Torrey
Hill Middle School Fenton, MI Bill Duncan Opportunity Center Lakeland, FL Students from this school have chosen Peer Mediation to help Pay it Forward in their community. In this project, 20 students will be trained as peer mediators to help mentor at risk students by encouraging positive choices in a school setting. The students will first be trained in mediation and conflict resolution and then share their knowledge and experience with other students to positively impact their decision making skills and self esteem. A Pay it Forward Foundation Grant helped purchase training materials for this project. Paul
Keys Elementary School Irving, TX Saint
Joseph's High School South Bend, IN Lewis
Chapel Middle School Fayetteville, NC McColl
Middle School McColl, SC |
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