Mitchell Sandwich Tues and Pie in the Sky Fundraiser

 Here are some highlights from Mitchell's successful Sandwich Tuesday event, Nov 29, 12016:

• 25 Mitchell students along with parents attended
• 70 lunches made for Generic Ministry volunteers to deliver to homeless in Boston
• Students and parents toured the Generic Ministry van with Mitchell parent and GM volunteer Kristen Collins to see how Generic Ministry supports the many needs of homeless people in Boston

Check out all the photos

Pie in the Sky Fundraiser

• 112 pies bought by Mitchell families, raising $3,355 for the Community Servings organization
• The $3,355 raised will enable Community Servings to support 112 critically ill homebound clients & their families for one week, or one client and family for 1/3 of the year

Pie in the Sky card making event

• 13 Mitchell students attended with parents

• Community Servings educational video watched by all
• The students created 45 creative, colorful and cheerful holiday and get well cards for Community Servings to provide to their clients this holiday season

Check out all the photos

Mitchell Delivers!

Mrs. Spinney's 2nd graders deliver 60 bags to the Needham Community Council's Food Pantry!

Eliot's Newest 5th Grade CSL Team Member

Fifth grade Student Leaders greet students in the morning and help them arrive safely.

Mitchell Delivers!

Ms. Krammes' third grade class delivered forty bags of items on behalf of Mitchell School today. Our next collection is Oct 18th.

Hillside Buddy Water Project 2016

Hillside students a local water
purification plant.

The Buddy Water project at Hillside is lead by second grade teacher Mr. Goneconto and fourth grade teacher Mrs. Katz.  Their students learned about water purification and how water shortages affect millions of people around the world.  They also raised awareness and money for the project by placing collection jars in some of our local establishments, including Not Your Average Joe's and Hearth Pizzeria.  The Buddy Water Project started 8 years ago in 2008 and at that time over 1 billion people did not have access to clean drinking water.  This year, a UNICEF representative revealed to the students that currently, the amount of people in the world that do not have access to clean drinking water has dropped to 663 million.  That's a difference of over 337 million people- more than the entire population of the United States!  It is because of programs like Hillside's Buddy Water Project that this number continues to shrink.  Great work for a great cause!

Buddy Water Project assembly.

Pollar's Cluster 7-2 Also at Walkathon

On Wednesday, June 1, 2016 Cluster 7-2 completed a Walkathon on DeFazio Field to raise money and awareness for the PanMass Challenge to fight cancer! As a cluster we walked over 400 miles and raised over $2000! It was a great event for a great cause! Our assembly speakers were JJ White and Abby Hynes.

Mitchell's Food Donation Contest yields 1,300 Items of Food!

THANK YOU to the entire Mitchell Community for their amazing generosity donating 1,300 items in one day for the final Needham Community Council Food Pantry collection day of 2015-16. Our second annual recess contest was a huge success due to all of your efforts and will help many families in need! Special thanks to our parent volunteers who counted, packed, and drove the items to the Council: Kristen Collins, Nancy Dubil, Katie Edwards, Molly Pomposelli, Gretchen Plotner, and Joe Vivaldi. Congratulations to Mrs. Ramras and her class for winning the prize of ten extra minutes of recess! Enjoy summer!
- The Community Service Learning Committee

Mitchell's 2nd Graders Donate 300 Bags of Food

Mrs. Katan's class delievers more than 300 bags of food to the Needham Community Council Food Pantry this May.

Pollard Cluster 7-4 Walk-a-thon CSL Project

On May 19th, Cluster 7-4 organized a Walk-a-thon fundraiser at DeFazio Field to benefit the Needham Community Council, a non-profit organization that supports people in need within the Needham community. The organization provides a variety of different programs that support all ages including a food pantry, thrift shop, a courtesy van, and tutoring.

In addition, throughout the month of May students collected almost 200 cans and raised over $400 for the organization. On May 27th, Sandra Robinson, the executive director of the Needham Community Council, visited Pollard and helped the students learn more about all of the great aspects of the organization.

Hillside's 12th annual Carol Virginio Memorial Jump Rope for Heart was a great success!

Hillside school was recently presented with two awards from the American Heart Association from the 2015 JRFH event in which over $23,000 was raised, bringing the 12-year total to over $150,000.  Hillside earned a 1st place award in recognition of the highest amount of money raised and donated by schools based on size, as well as a top 10 award for the amount of money raised without designation of school size. Out of the 500+ schools that participate in the Jump Rope for Heart program, Hillside finished 6th!  Most importantly, the kids learned heart healthy habits and had a blast jumping for a wonderful cause to honor the memory of Carol Virginio.

Mitchell Community - Ms Martin's Class Brings 21 Bags of Groceries to the Food Pantry

April 26, 2016

The Mitchell Community - Avery Crossing and Cradles to Crayon

Avery Crossing

Twelve volunteer students and 6 chaperone volunteers ventured to Needham's Avery Crossing Assisted Living Facility for some games and art projects with senior residents.   Our Mitchell students were gracious hosts and enjoyed lively conversation, served tea, and impressed residents with their artistic talents.  There were a lot of smiles and laughs and we know we made a difference in a people's lives with the energy and interest from our caring and inquisitive volunteers.  Thanks to our volunteers!

Cradles to Crayons 2016

Mitchell students participated in another very successful Cradles to Crayons (https://cradlestocrayons.org/) event at Needham High School on Saturday, April 2, helping to sort clothing and books and clean and prepare toys for distribution to Boston area children in need.  Mitchell families also contributed over 60 bags of clothing, books and toys ahead of the event.  A big thanks to all of you who cleaned out your closets to help support this great charitable organization.  All in all, with the help of students and families from all Needham schools, 487 bags of clothing were collected and sorted, serving 1461 kids, up from 952 last year!

Hillside Wins Video Contest!

Lights, camera, action! The Hillside Student Council, in collaboration with Ms. Roberts, Mrs. DeCicco and Hillside Cares, received 1st place in the Coats for Kids video contest! Here's the link to watch the video again if you'd like: Coats for Kids Video

We received a $250 Staples gift card to use for school supplies. The Student Council meets tomorrow and will discuss ideas for how to spend the $250. Congratulations on a great job!

Mitchell, the One Hundredth Day of School, and the Food Pantry

In celebration of 100 Day, Ms. Healy and Mrs. Harr's kindergartners collected nearly 300 food items for the Needham Community Council's Food Pantry. Special thanks to Jen Muroff and Nancy Dubil for all they do on our Commuinty Service Learning Commitee! The next collection will be Tuesday, March 15, 2016.

Mitchell CSL and Sandwich Making

The Mitchell Community Service Learning Sandwich Making Event for Generic Ministry on Tuesday, Dec 22 was a great success. Generic Ministry is a Needham based organization that collects and distributes food, clothing and supplies to the homeless and needy in Boston.  We had 32 students and 15 adults that volunteered, creating a total of 170 sandwiches and bag lunches.  

At the end of the sandwich making event, Kristen Collins, parent of 2 Mitchell students and a volunteer for Generic Ministry, gave a nice talk to the kids about the important work that Generic Ministry does and how they distribute the bag lunches to people in need.  The kids then helped to load all of the lunches into the Generic Ministry van, seeing how the lunches are stored and all of the other supplies that are loaded into the van ahead of distributing around Boston. 
(Click here for more photos)