Kids Helping Kids
Caughman Road students send stuffed animals to children in Iraq
Contributed by Caughman Road Elementary School

Students in the Community of Learners at Caughman Road Elementary School collected 216 new and slightly used stuffed animals to send to hospitalized children in Iraq as part of a special service project. The stuffed animals were shipped to Iraq on March 21. Students (l- r) Jayshae Nathan, Benjamin Young, Isaiah Coutee, DaQuan DeWitt and Quantavious Byrd.

The Community of Learners, a school- within- a- school at Caughman Road Elementary, recently took on a service project to reach out to children in Iraq.

These students, who are in grades one through three, began a stuffed animal drive to send "feel better" messages to children who had been hurt and hospitalized in Iraq. The idea was born through emails exchanged by science lab teacher Shawn Hall and her husband who is stationed overseas. She shared the concern for the Iraqi children with the Community of Learners teachers and a "Kids Helping Kids" service project was started.

Over the course of four weeks, students brought in new and slightly used stuffed animals. A daily chart showing how many animals were collected was kept by the students. A local business, Jeffers- McGill TV & Appliance Co., challenged the students to collect more than 200 stuffed animals. They met the challenge by collecting 216 stuffed animals and were rewarded with an ice cream party.

The stuffed animals were boxed up and shipped out to Iraq on March 21.