Student
PSEA’s four pillars include Professional Development, Community Service,
Leadership and Membership Development, and Political Action and Advocacy. All
of these are represented at the Student PSEA Conference and Convention.
Each
year, Outreach to Teach and the food bank drive for the Harrisburg Downtown
Daily Bread “Food Plus” program highlight the Community Service pillar at the conference.
Downtown Daily Bread Food Bank Drive
The food
bank drive is a chapter competition to see who can bring the most “high need” items to donate to the
Harrisburg Downtown Daily Bread “Food Plus” program.
Here are
some details about this cause, from the organization:
“Downtown Daily Bread (DDB)
is an emergency kitchen which provides a nourishing, hot meal for the poor and
homeless of downtown Harrisburg. This is done at no cost to the recipient. The
simple, but nutritious food is served from 12:30-1:30 p.m. daily, including
weekends and holidays.
DDB operates under the
philosophical belief that all human beings are created equally. Men, women, and
children of all races, religions, ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic levels
deserve to have their basic human needs met. All human beings should have
access to food, shelter, and clothing. DDB strives to feed the hungry and
provide basic human services for the poor and homeless.
DDB believes that
people deserve second chances and the opportunity to change. Mistakes made in
one’s life do not have to negatively impact a person’s chance for future
livelihood and independence. DDB offers an outstretched arm to those in need
and to those suffering from mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, and
prior legal offenses. Opportunity to rise above past offenses, situations, and
personal issues are inherent in the services DDB provides.”
Our act
of kindness goes a long way for these people. Sometimes we forget that we are
so fortunate to be going to school and getting a college education. While we
may not have money to buy the things we WANT, others are suffering because they
don’t even have enough money to buy the things they NEED, like food or items to
bathe, like shampoo and soap.
This
year, we are asking that conference attendees bring their complimentary items
from the hotel to the conference, so that we can donate them to Downtown Daily
Bread.
These
include shampoos, soaps, conditioner, etc.
“No act of kindness, no
matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop
Outreach to Teach
Outreach
to Teach is our most anticipated event at conference! We plan for over a year,
picking a school in an area close to the location of the state conference. We
meet with the principal(s) and superintendent(s). We take a walk through of the
school a few times to gage projects and get ideas for areas to beautify and
refurbish. We calculate the cost of materials and apply for grants to help fund
the project. A lot of hard work and effort goes into making this amazing
community service project happen and it couldn’t be done without the work of
the Outreach to Teach Subcommittee!
Meet your 2016-2017 Student PSEA Outreach to Teach
Subcommittee!
Sam Nagel – State Secretary
Maria Wittman – State
Vice President
Marie Hutchings – State President-Elect
These three leaders have worked so hard to create projects,
develop supply lists, and estimate costs to apply for grants. Without their
strong servant leadership skills and dedication, we could not have pulled off
this project!
At
Cornell School District, grades K-12 are located on one campus in Coraopolis
with separate wings for elementary and secondary instruction. Approximately 675
students attend kindergarten through grade 12. This school has been partially
updated over the years.
Our main
projects this year include repainting the entire auditorium, and the elementary
and junior high hallways. We have completed one prep day to paint half of the
junior high hallway. We are planning a second day to prep the elementary
hallway. The difficulty with the walls in this school are that the blocks have
deep crevasses. This makes it difficult and time consuming to paint the walls.
It also makes it difficult to paint murals. This year’s project will be focused
less on detail and more on covering large areas. Below are pictures that show
different areas that we will be beautifying as well as a before and during
picture of the junior high hallway from our first prep day!
Junior High Hallway Before
During Prep Day (painted over halfway down the wall
to prepare for royal blue paint on the bottom.
Walls will have this design once finished
Elementary Library (mural)
Murals for the walls in the nurses office
Large Auditorium
Brick walls with deep crevasses
Along
with these projects, there will be other miscellaneous projects. A list of
projects can be found under Outreach to Teach information on www.psea.org/studentconference. When registering for
the 2017 Student PSEA Conference and Convention, you will be able to choose one
of the project teams to be on. Each project is unique and important! The
faculty and superintendent are so excited to see the finished product.
Don’t
forget your items for the food bank drive and I’ll see you in Pittsburgh, where
we will build bridges today for tomorrow’s leaders!
Shelby Pepmeyer
State President
