Volunteering
Service Learning
By Dr. Jeanne Giardino on June 24th, 2015
“Volunteers are not paid—not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.”
Do you volunteer or did you when you were young?
Do you remember who Candy Stripers were? They were hospital volunteers. Working as a Candy Striper was my first experience volunteering and it taught me real-world experiences that helped shape my future.
I volunteered each Sunday from 12 – 4 p.m. at Pembroke Pines Hospital in South Florida. There were many rules and the expectations for the teen volunteers were high, dauntingly so. We received intensive training that resembled that of a NASA Astronaut. Continue reading
Blended School Receives Teens for Jeans Grant
By Guest Blogger on May 6th, 2015
Western Eagle Bilingual School is a private blended school in Mayagüez, PR that has been using FlexPoint Education Cloud curriculum since 2010. They recently participated in a national campaign to collect jeans for homeless teenagers sponsored by Aeropostale and DoSomething.org called Teens for Jeans. Read their story here:
As I was reading “Leadership for Students,” published by the National Association of Secondary School Principals for NJHS and NHS Members, I came across a short article about a school in the United States that participated in DoSomething.org’s Teen for Jeans campaign by donating 500 jeans. I thought to myself, we can collect even more than that at our school!
The challenge was on. Continue reading
Reading Aloud to Cats
By Dr. Jeanne Giardino on August 27th, 2014
Did you ever read to your stuffed animals as a child? Perhaps your family pet enjoyed having you share a colorful picture book as he lay by your side with the bed lamp illuminating the pages. Reading aloud to pets allows children to practice their reading skills to a non-judgmental audience.
In my house you can hear, “Here kitty, kitty! I want to read a storybook to you!” all day long. You see, my family cares for homeless kittens and cats for an organization in Central Florida called Candy’s Cats. It gives our family, especially our young daughters, the opportunity to volunteer and learn how to give of themselves. My daughters are responsible for the socialization of the felines we care for. The kitties come to us scared and hissing, but the girls know that reading storybooks to them will help the unsure kittens learn to trust them. It works; and other programs around the country have embraced reading to cats reaping benefits for both the reader and the listener. Continue reading