SUPERINTENDENT COMMUNIQUÉ MIDLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Dow High Student Leadership Gives Back!

During the months of November and December, Dow High Student Leadership was tasked with creating projects that would benefit the surrounding community in some way. Their creativity allowed for numerous projects to be successfully brainstormed, organized, and executed. The list below is just a glimpse of some amazing things these students did during the time of holidays and giving. Dow High Student Leadership is grateful to everyone who assisted in the success of these projects!

• Adopt a Family: Classes teamed up to adopt a local family for the holidays with the Salvation Army. Their combined efforts allowed for everything the family asked for (plus some) to be purchased.
• Book Drive: Almost 800 books were donated by students and community members at the December Dow v. Midland basketball games. These were donated to Midland County Foster Closet for local children and teens in foster care.
• Blanket Making Event: The second annual tie blanket making project resulted in over 50 blankets also being donated to Midland County Foster Closet.
• Spikeball Tournament: Competitors and spectators who attended the tournament brought physical or monetary donations for the Midland Humane Society. Over $200 worth of items were donated to help local animals in need.
• My Michigan Pediatric Toy Collection: Each 5th hour class was tasked with collecting wish-list items for a certain age bracket. In the end, over 100 items were donated to the hospital to help brighten the day of children in their care. Congratulations to Mr. Gardner's 5th hour class for an impressive win!
• Pen Pals: Student Leadership 3 began a pen pal connection with 1st graders at St. Brigid's. In addition to being fun for all students involved, this activity also helps forge connections between Dow High and other schools in the community.
• The Breaking Bread Village Partnership: Several Leadership Students worked with Erin Patrice of The Breaking Bread Village to help her promote her January 26 community discussion event. In exchange for helping her, each student got to select another local non-profit to 'sponsor'. The student who brought the most guests to the event received a donation to their selected organization from Erin. Through this project students were able to learn about and educate their peers/community members about The Arc of Midland, The Bridge Food Center, and For a Better Tomorrow; all organizations with a great cause that they were not previously aware of. Congratulations to Zailey Archbold for winning the competition on behalf of The Bridge Food Center!
• Babysitting Night: Leadership hosted a babysitting night complete with movies and cookie decorating. This free event allowed parents an opportunity to prepare for the holidays while their children enjoyed the event. This event was helpful to many community members, including many Dow High staff members.
• Teaching Kindness: Members from all four sections of Student Leadership teamed up to visit 3rd graders at Woodcrest. During this visit, students used activities and games to teach students about the importance of kindness and being leaders.
• Shelterhouse Crafts & Winter Gear: One group organized a winter gear drive in multiple MPS locations. This drive was very successful and all items were donated to Shelterhouse. This group also designed craft kits with instruction videos for Shelterhouse to have on hand for children that visit their location.
• Movie Night: Leadership hosted a movie night in the Dow High Media Center. Not only was this a great way for students to relax and do something fun before exams, their entry fee of non-perishable food donations created a nice donation to Open Door during the holiday season.
• Cards for Veterans: Leadership worked with 3rd hour classrooms to decorate and write holiday cards for local veterans. This group then connected with Midland County Veterans Services to ensure that the hundreds of cards that were made would be delivered during the holiday season.