Simple Abundance

The students brought in their items for the Catholic Worker House today.  The volunteer from the house is taking everything there today, along with the letters that the students have written.  Thank you to all the families that helped make this service learning project a success.  To celebrate the completion of our project the students will break a pinata on Monday. Yeah!

Student Activists Making a Difference

The students have now identified how to help the homeless in order to make a difference in the world.  One is by becoming aware of the homeless problem in Iowa.  Secondly, the students have shared the information with others.  Thirdly, the students have identified how they individually can make a difference. Activities they selected to help the Catholic Worker House were:
To bake a dessert for part of a meal
To identify and select some of their toys and books to give to the  homeless shelter.
To select some clothes to give to the homeless shelter
To donate canned goods
To make a care bag which contains shampoo, combs, soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush.
This  service learning project was identified by the students  so they could  make a difference in their community.  This was a way to serve their community.  These are truly student leaders.

Fact Finding on Homeless

The students information came from articles on the internet.  Some information came from Iowa Council on Homelessness and the Waterloo Courier.

A homeless person is described as someone who does not have regular night time place to sleep.
Sophie

27,571 people were homeless or near homeless in 2007 and were helped by an organization.  This is similar to the entire population of Mason City, our 15th largest city, or if the entire population of Coralville lost their homes.
Jada

In 2007 67% of adults in familes have completed high school diploma or GED.
Treyvon

In 2007 53% of homeless individuals report a long term disability.
Milo

10,206 Iowans under the age of 18 needed assistance  and werer provided help in 2007.
Jack

In 2007 12% of homeless adults served in the Armed Forces.
David

In 2007, 57% of homeless people in families are children.  That is 4 out of 10 homeless Iowans.
Alexis

In 2007, 1'3 of homeless families are the "working poor".   That means thay have a job, but can not afford to buy a house or pay rent.
Leah

An additional 10,010 Iowans were at risk of becoming homeless and were provided assistance to prevent homelessness in 2007.
Alyssa

There were 23,808 people in Iowa classified as homeless and another 15, 351 people were considered at risk of becoming homeless in 2009.
Abby

In 2009 homeless were reported in every county in Iowa.

Nearly three in five of Iowa's homeless house holds listed economics as eith the main reason or secondary reason they became homeless in 2009.
Zoe


Two shelters that provide assistance to the homeless are the Catholic Worker House and the Cedar Valley Hospitality House.  A volunteer, Miss Leuth and a worker will be speaking to the class about the services provided at the Catholic Worker House next week.  The Cedar Valley Hospitality House, a new shelter, will provide homeless people a place to go during the daytime.

Mystery Speaker Rocks!

Dr. Audrey Rule was our mystery speaker.  She is a professor and geologist.  Dr. Rule had a challenging  and engaging activity for the students to help them review the information they had learned about rocks earlier.  Using cartoons, she demonstrated how to present information about rocks.  She also taught  them how they might use puns or a play on words.  Words that are related to geology and have multiple meanings were discussed.  For example, the words rock, stone, gneiss,marble, coarse, and granite can be used.  The students enjoyed the activity.  It was an engaging end of the unit activity.

Our Service-Learning Project, Student Activists

On Friday the students, revisited the question, How can the students make the world and community a better place? How can they make a positive difference?  In December the students selected the social justice issue of helping the homeless.  They believe this was an important issue to make the community a better place and to help children in need.  The service learning project is meant to help the students have a voice in their community and to promote civic involvement.
Comments on why this issue is important to the students:
They need shelter from storms and danger.  If no one helps them,  that would be sad.  We can find out information from the internet and books.
Emma
They could die from hunger.
Sophie
What if you were that person with no food or shelter?  How would you feel?
Jada
People need to treat them like people.
Jack
We could raise money.
Abby
We could have a bake sale to raise money.
Leah
If you have shelter and food, you should help them.
Zoe

To begin the project, the students are gathering information to their questions:
Has anybody helped them? Treyvon
How can we help?  Has someone helped? What are the homeless like? Abby
What do they look like?  How can we help?  Has the President helped them?  Can we raise money to help?  Where are they in Iowa?  Do many people help?  Where do they live?  Do some die?  Jack
How can we help? Jada
Why don't they have homes?  Why don't they have money?  Do they live in the street?  Do they have friends?
Can we start an auction? Alyssa
Do they live in boxes?  Where are their places they most sleep?  Milo
Why are they homeless?  Where are they?  Where can we help?  Sophie
Where do the homeless in Iowa sleep? Where do the homeless in Iowa get food? David
Where do they sleep? Leah
What do they need to live?  Has the President helped?  Alexis
How much supplies do they need? What supplies do they need?  Zoe
How can we help?  Has the President helped?  Emma