At St. Pius X Elementary, learning is more than literacy and numeracy. Students are proud of their social justice committee. Grade six student, Madison says “We help people, we try to do the best we can to help people.” Teacher, Sarah Adomako-Ansah echoed Madison adding it’s an important life lesson. “There are aspects of the school that aren’t learnt from a textbook. The thought that even though you don’t have a lot, you can make a difference. It’s okay to give, it’s okay to give without question.”
Their latest project began in October. They advertised in the school paper, broadcast on the school system and began to gather socks. Adomako-Ansah says the children connected quickly with the project. “We talked about how it would feel to have cold feet walking around without a home. How terrible that would be to have wet cold feet and not to be able to do anything about it.”
The students hung the socks on a string running the length of the school held on by clothespins. Adomako–Ansah couldn’t stop smiling, “I am over the moon over how many socks we raised and how well the students did.” “Socktober” was a huge success! 625 pairs of socks were donated to The Mustard Seed. Adomako- Ansah said it was amazing to watch.
“It was phenomenal to see them spring to action. They almost came to life in a sense as agents of change.”
The project has left a lasting impression. Madison said, “I have mixed feelings. I feel good that we collected so many socks for the less fortunate. I also feel kind of sad that there are people who are less fortunate.” Rohnan is still trying to comprehend how some have very little. “It was kind of confusing (socks) are some of the cheapest things you can get.”
And that kind of thinking according to the teacher, is exactly what this lesson was all about.
