For the next week, the six houses at Schultz Elementary School in Delaware will be competing to see which house can collect the most canned goods and other items for People In Need, Inc. of Delaware County.
Kathy Horner, the physical education teacher at Schultz, said the the house committee decided it wanted to do a charity project and give the houses a chance to compete.
“We wanted to motivate them to be more involved and have more house spirit,” Horner said. She added each of the six houses has five families, and the leaders of the families have been appointed student leaders. Horner said the leaders will be counting the donations every few days until Dec. 14, when the donated items will be given to People In Need.
Horner said each house has a different set of items it is supposed to donate, with some houses focusing on canned goods while others focus on home supplies and other items.
“It gives them a sense of being helpful and helps them realize that they can do something small to help people in a big way,” Horner said. “We’re hoping they’ll also get a sense of camaraderie with the other members of their house and take pride in being part of their house.”
Horner said the winning house will get a special pizza party with Pacer athletes from Hayes High School. They will be able to take photographs with the athletes or get autographs.
One of the fifth-grade student leaders, Brynna Pauley, of House Tar Heel, said she’s enjoyed the competition so far.
“I just love helping people,” Pauley said. “It’s a great way to show kids how to be nice. I feel like we’ve built great relationships.”
Ferah Clark, another student leader, was counting donations for her house, Best of All, and said she hopes the younger students in her house learn about compassion.
“I feel like people in need just need help sometimes,” Clark said.”I hope they learn to share and be kind to others, and always to learn to be nice.”
Horner praised the students’ attitudes during the project.
“We have some very, very strong leaders at Schultz, and they take their responsibility seriously,” Horner said. “It’s great to work with them.”
At the end of counting Thursday, Best of All leads the competition with 177 items, but Tar Heel is close behind with 176.
