VIDEO: Orchard Crunches Service into Fun with 800 Box Cereal Run
[Keep scrolling after the article to see the photos]
"May is always a busy month. Ask any teacher, and they’ll tell you that it’s always surprising how much can be put into just a few short weeks. Add in the buzz and excitement that comes along with knowing Summer Break is just around the corner and it can be a bit of a roller coaster. So, knowing that we’re in the thick of all that May brings us here at Orchard, why did we think this was the perfect time for a Cereal Drive and Domino Run?
The answer is simple. It was something fun to do! What started off as a few teachers watching a viral video of another school doing a cereal domino run in their building, turned into one of those “only at Orchard moments” we love so much. Teachers worked together to figure out what we’d need to make the event happen, planning on a smaller scale than what we’d seen online.
We should have known better -- this is Orchard, of course! You know that story about giving a mouse a cookie and what happens from there? Well...while teachers and students in EC and ES were measuring cereal boxes and different places in and around campus, our Parents’ Association heard what we were up to and asked to help out. They made a connection for us to the Crooked Creek Food Pantry. After that connection was made, we told our wonderful family community about the idea and how they could help. That’s when donations started pouring in from our Preschool through Eighth Grade families. Within just a couple of weeks, we had over 300 boxes of cereal!
With Earth Day just around the corner, our Outdoor Ed team saw a connection to the idea of a domino run as a metaphor for how one small change can make a big difference. With that in mind, and while we were all seeing loads of cereal boxes coming in, each grade made a poster celebrating something they would pledge to do in honor of Earth Day to create a positive change for our planet.
While talking about ways to make a change, a Fourth Grade class asked about how to make an even bigger difference for people who needed help. Their teacher used the cereal drive as an example and helped them research grants and fundraising. That’s when things got really big. Those Fourth Graders wrote a grant to Kroger, and received $500 to buy more cereal. They researched, shopped, and added approximately 340 boxes of cereal to the project!
That brought us all the way up to the big event. Some very dedicated teachers and student volunteers came out to set up all 801 boxes of cereal around the Green. But no story is complete without a challenge, right? Ours was the wind. Our hopes and dreams of an outdoor cereal domino run were being literally knocked down in front of us. That’s when we had an idea that really made it so very Orchard. Each student from our Middle and Elementary School helped by holding on to one or two boxes and after we counted down, they let go at just the right time to cheer on the run. The boxes went up to the flagpole, and we all cheered!
Once the crowd cleared, volunteers stayed behind to box and bag up the cereal and Crooked Creek came to collect the donation. Looking back, this was, at its heart, our Orchard community at its best. We learned from real-world experiences, everyone was involved, we had a blast doing it, and we helped others in need.
So, as it turns out, the busy month of May is the perfect time to come together to show off our Orchard pride. It all started with an idea and was a huge success thanks to our dedicated teachers, supportive families, and our always amazing students. Thank you for showing our community what we’re all about, Owls! What a beautiful way to wind down our school year together."
Heather Girton Early Childhood & Elementary School Director
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"May is always a busy month. Ask any teacher, and they’ll tell you that it’s always surprising how much can be put into just a few short weeks. Add in the buzz and excitement that comes along with knowing Summer Break is just around the corner and it can be a bit of a roller coaster. So, knowing that we’re in the thick of all that May brings us here at Orchard, why did we think this was the perfect time for a Cereal Drive and Domino Run?
The answer is simple. It was something fun to do! What started off as a few teachers watching a viral video of another school doing a cereal domino run in their building, turned into one of those “only at Orchard moments” we love so much. Teachers worked together to figure out what we’d need to make the event happen, planning on a smaller scale than what we’d seen online.
We should have known better -- this is Orchard, of course! You know that story about giving a mouse a cookie and what happens from there? Well...while teachers and students in EC and ES were measuring cereal boxes and different places in and around campus, our Parents’ Association heard what we were up to and asked to help out. They made a connection for us to the Crooked Creek Food Pantry. After that connection was made, we told our wonderful family community about the idea and how they could help. That’s when donations started pouring in from our Preschool through Eighth Grade families. Within just a couple of weeks, we had over 300 boxes of cereal!
With Earth Day just around the corner, our Outdoor Ed team saw a connection to the idea of a domino run as a metaphor for how one small change can make a big difference. With that in mind, and while we were all seeing loads of cereal boxes coming in, each grade made a poster celebrating something they would pledge to do in honor of Earth Day to create a positive change for our planet.
While talking about ways to make a change, a Fourth Grade class asked about how to make an even bigger difference for people who needed help. Their teacher used the cereal drive as an example and helped them research grants and fundraising. That’s when things got really big. Those Fourth Graders wrote a grant to Kroger, and received $500 to buy more cereal. They researched, shopped, and added approximately 340 boxes of cereal to the project!
That brought us all the way up to the big event. Some very dedicated teachers and student volunteers came out to set up all 801 boxes of cereal around the Green. But no story is complete without a challenge, right? Ours was the wind. Our hopes and dreams of an outdoor cereal domino run were being literally knocked down in front of us. That’s when we had an idea that really made it so very Orchard. Each student from our Middle and Elementary School helped by holding on to one or two boxes and after we counted down, they let go at just the right time to cheer on the run. The boxes went up to the flagpole, and we all cheered!
Once the crowd cleared, volunteers stayed behind to box and bag up the cereal and Crooked Creek came to collect the donation. Looking back, this was, at its heart, our Orchard community at its best. We learned from real-world experiences, everyone was involved, we had a blast doing it, and we helped others in need.
So, as it turns out, the busy month of May is the perfect time to come together to show off our Orchard pride. It all started with an idea and was a huge success thanks to our dedicated teachers, supportive families, and our always amazing students. Thank you for showing our community what we’re all about, Owls! What a beautiful way to wind down our school year together."
Heather Girton Early Childhood & Elementary School Director
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