It's not every day that a charity drive can turn into a multifaceted
lesson plan, but that's what second grade teachers at St. Clements
Regional Catholic School have done with a school-wide project.
For the past few weeks students at St. Clements have been bringing in lightly used and even some pairs of brand new shoes to be donated to a program called "Shoes for the Shoeless."
The program was started by Al O'Neill, a member of the Lions Club from Delaware who is dedicated to assisting those who are less fortunate. O'Neill literally collects thousands of pairs of shoes and drives them to the Appalachian region, including Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and places the shoes on the feet of the needy.
St. Clements learned about this effort through religious outreach programs and have been collecting shoes for the past three years. While the effort encourages the whole school and St. Clements Catholic Congregation to donate what they can, it is the second grade class that takes care of all of the work involved.
"Every time we think we might be slowing down with the donations we get more," said Louise Gionet, one of the second grade teachers.
It is up to the second graders to organize the shoes into pairs, count, organize and sort them before boxing them up for transportation. The shoes are being collected at the Delmar Bootery located in Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany.
"This project has turned into a lesson in math, social studies and religion at the same time," Gionet said. "They are learning math by the counting and sorting, social studies by learning about the regions that these shoes will be going to and religion by doing charitable work for others. At St. Clements we try to focus a lot of attention on helping the less fortunate. It's a great program, especially for children to be involved in."
So far, there have been about 1,000 pairs of shoes collected this year and the students are hoping to meet last year's number of 1,200 pairs.
"It's so nice to watch the kids taking part in this project. They realize they are doing something good for others and are also having a lot of fun with it," Gionet said.
Gionet said that the different kinds of shoes and the amount of unused shoes have impressed her.
"It's surprising how many pairs of new shoes we've gotten, especially in kids sizes. Parents may buy shoes before their children grow into them and they fit during the wrong season. In a lot of the smaller size shoes, kids grow out of them before they can wear them out. This is really helpful for the less fortunate people who can't afford to buy new shoes for their growing children," Gionet said.
Shoes will still be collected through November 1 at St. Clements Regional Catholic School located on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs. Gently used shoes of all kinds and sized are accepted.
The program was started by Al O'Neill, a member of the Lions Club from Delaware who is dedicated to assisting those who are less fortunate. O'Neill literally collects thousands of pairs of shoes and drives them to the Appalachian region, including Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and places the shoes on the feet of the needy.
St. Clements learned about this effort through religious outreach programs and have been collecting shoes for the past three years. While the effort encourages the whole school and St. Clements Catholic Congregation to donate what they can, it is the second grade class that takes care of all of the work involved.
"Every time we think we might be slowing down with the donations we get more," said Louise Gionet, one of the second grade teachers.
It is up to the second graders to organize the shoes into pairs, count, organize and sort them before boxing them up for transportation. The shoes are being collected at the Delmar Bootery located in Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany.
"This project has turned into a lesson in math, social studies and religion at the same time," Gionet said. "They are learning math by the counting and sorting, social studies by learning about the regions that these shoes will be going to and religion by doing charitable work for others. At St. Clements we try to focus a lot of attention on helping the less fortunate. It's a great program, especially for children to be involved in."
So far, there have been about 1,000 pairs of shoes collected this year and the students are hoping to meet last year's number of 1,200 pairs.
"It's so nice to watch the kids taking part in this project. They realize they are doing something good for others and are also having a lot of fun with it," Gionet said.
Gionet said that the different kinds of shoes and the amount of unused shoes have impressed her.
"It's surprising how many pairs of new shoes we've gotten, especially in kids sizes. Parents may buy shoes before their children grow into them and they fit during the wrong season. In a lot of the smaller size shoes, kids grow out of them before they can wear them out. This is really helpful for the less fortunate people who can't afford to buy new shoes for their growing children," Gionet said.
Shoes will still be collected through November 1 at St. Clements Regional Catholic School located on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs. Gently used shoes of all kinds and sized are accepted.
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