December 19th, 2019

The Grade 9 Choose to Lead class at Bluevale Collegiate Institute (BCI) was looking for a new challenge. After successfully running a campaign collecting food for the foodbank and socks for those in need this past fall, students were eager to find a way to give back for the month of December.

Divided into teams, students researched opportunities to contribute to their community. Each group presented a detailed plan outlining how they would raise funds, a timeline of events, and how to involve the whole class. After many engaging presentations and pitches on different organizations and causes, students decided to support children who were spending the holiday season in the hospital.

Having a bake sale and selling hot chocolate and candy-grams would allow students to purchase gifts to give to children in the hospital, making their stay there a bit brighter. Students worked closely with Grand River Hospital to make sure that proper permissions were in place and rules were followed for donating presents.

The class got to work assigning teams to promote the bake sale, bake cookies and put together the candy-grams. Students sold cookies for $1, candy-grams for $0.50 and hot chocolate for $1.50 during lunch-hour.

In one lunch, students managed to raise $470, all of which went to purchasing gifts. A group of students went shopping and loaded their carts with toys and games for various ages and delivered the gifts to Grand River Hospital on December 13.

Thank you to Bluevale’s Choose to Lead class for creating a project that goes beyond the classroom walls, making an impact on children in their school community during the holiday season.

A Time of Giving in the WRDSB

As we count down to the winter break, we are highlighting just a few of the generous acts of kindness our staff and students are modelling. From students collecting socks for the less fortunate, to kindergarteners serenading seniors, these are just a few of the amazing things happening across our board at this time of year.

You can check out all of the great acts of giving in our schools (they happen all year round!) by following us on social media and using the hashtag #WRDSBgives.