PLSD students and staff are always active in the community with efforts ranging from blood drives, to food drives, to service-learning and more, the schools share plenty of love and spirit with the community.
PHSN Gives B.A.C.K.
When Jim Campbell started working as the principal at North before the 2022 school year, he wanted to find ways for students to get involved in the community. That December, he set seniors up with opportunities to volunteer at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, dog shelters, the humane society and other schools.
These efforts were well-received by students, staff and the community, but there was a drive to bring a more academic mindset to the community service. So, Campbell sought help from Service-Learning Tutoring Co-Facilitators Renee Mortimer and Diana Glanzman.
“We hope to make lifelong changemakers in the process,” Diana Glanzman, a Service Learning Center coordinator, says.
This collaboration led to the creation of PHSN Gives B.A.C.K. Day, hosted on district Professional Days in November and March. Each academic department took on a different project with their third-period classes that connected with their academic learning. Examples of projects completed in March include:
- English and language arts: wrote letters to incoming freshmen, collected more than 200 books for children and read aloud to PLSD elementary students.
- Math classrooms: learned about inflation and collected 794 cereal boxes for the Pickerington Food Pantry and local blessing boxes.
- World language: learned about food insecurity and collected donations for the Open Shelter of Columbus and Faith Mission of Fairfield County, including 400 bottles of water, 100 hygiene items, 10 bags of clothing and 1,840 food products for lunch bags.
- Health, physical education and the baseball teams: hosted a month-long canned food drive and some students interviewed Vanessa Niekamp of the Food Pantry to learn about food insecurity.
- A chemistry class designed and demonstrated science experiments for first graders.
- Social Studies: hosted a presentation by Honor Flight Columbus and the students curated more than 100 kits for veterans in Columbus.
- Students helped middle school students learn team building and elementary students do Social Emotional Learning activities.
“I’m overwhelmed with the amount of success we’re having with this program, and we’re growing hearts,” Campbell says. “It’s providing experiences to students that potentially they wouldn’t have unless we had these opportunities. It’s something you can’t put into words.”
PHSN Gives B.A.C.K. hopes to broadcast more student voices, encouraging them to create projects about social issues they are passionate about. In November, a student inspired a building-wide project to create origami kits for patients in the infusion clinic at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. In March, another student focused on teen homelessness and inspired elective classes to create no-sew blankets and hygiene kits for the Star House, a local organization helping unhoused youth.
“The student voice (is) very impactful,” Mortimer says. “The teachers are engaging their students in what is on their heart and a direction and a cause, and Jim is also working with different students that are saying, ‘hey, this is something I’d like to talk with you about.’”
Tagging in the Tigers
Central clubs have also done a lot for the community this year. Student Council’s fall food drive collected 1,396 cans and $1,893 for the Pickerington Food Pantry. National Honor Society hosted 6 blood drives to help central Ohio hospitals and one to raise awareness about Leukemia in honor of Kamy McDuffe, a seventh grader at Ridgeview. NHS also collected 2,398 pounds of food from its Halloween canned food drive and raised more than $2,200 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Toll Gate Middle School: Toll Gate students’ outreach projects throughout the year included letters and acts of kindness throughout Pickerington. These students are learning that compassion, kindness and empathy make a meaningful impact on the community.
Fairfield Elementary School: Students collected goodies for patients at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and collected coloring books, puzzle books and Play-Doh in December.
Blankets for the homeless: Students from Central, Toll Gate Middle School and Ridgeview Junior High School teamed up with Central’s Key Club and local organization Blankets for the Homeless to help make and gather blankets for those in need.
Jane Dimel is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
