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.