Children pitch in for Fort Mac

Kids just want to help.

And more than 100 young students from kindergarten to Grade 4 at Chinook Center School did it in a positive, big way during a one-day school-wide Passport to FUNdraiser event for the evacuees of Fort McMurray.

The idea for the May 19 event, broken into 20 morning and afternoon activities, came just over three weeks ago at a staff meeting, said Melissa McBride, the school's physical education and arts specialist.

"It was inspired not only by the teachers but by the children as well. The children were very interested and intrigued and wanted to help out," said McBride, who co-organized the event with teachers Janelle Carey, Patty Hollman, Lorrie Sparks, Leslie Ramsell, Patty Teare and Coreen Nelson.

She said it took about a week to formulate the students' passport, which included unlimited all-day options, morning and afternoon activities, lunch choices, and even a "Ticket to Ride" option where kids could bring in $10 and participate in unlimited activities for the entire day.

The activities included those from the school's physical education curriculum, utilizing math through a game called Prodigy, board games, and two different sessions of art times, such as playing with pet rocks in the morning and building monsters in the afternoon. As well, there were kindergarten centres for the youngest students.

McBride said students even had an opportunity to go on a nature walk or a bike ride, and they could bring in their own device for an afternoon session.

And while the day was focused on helping those in need because of the wildfire in Fort McMurray, there were many benefits for the young students as well, said McBride.

"We really see the value of having kids integrated and working together, not only with just their grade but the whole school," she said. "Through having morning and afternoon centres they got to pick (students) in their grade, but with others and they got to be with siblings and friends. It was awesome for them."

Best of all when the day was over, which also included the presentation of prizes for fundraising and a school-wide dance party, the donation total for the displaced of Fort McMurray came in at $1,194.25.

"We thought it was an excellent way for them to not only help the kids, but just to feel good in their hearts that they did something for them as well," said McBride. "Lots of our kids even brought in their own loonies and toonies from their piggy banks because they knew some kids in Fort Mac had lost everything, so they wanted to help them using their own money from chores and birthdays.

"At the end of the day I overheard in the boot room one little guy say "I'm really sad that Fort McMurray had a fire," she added. "But this day was awesome and I can't wait to do another fundraiser."

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