A few students at the Middle School didn’t keep the money they earned.
Middle School ELL instructor Rusty Bever said four 7th Grade and one 6th Grade English Language Learner students decided to donate proceeds they earned from running the Middle School concession stand to the All Cultures Equal Center (ACE).
According to their website, ACE is a nonprofit organization, community center and meeting place for people from all walks of life. It was founded in response to the growing diversity in Hamilton County.
“At ACE we strive to bring people together through outreach, education, cultural exchange, and to provide our community with access to a wide variety of resources and services,” their website says.
First, the ELL students took an educational tour of the Webster City High School greenhouse, which was orchestrated by a student teacher from Iowa State University and executed by two Agriculture Leadership students from Webster City High School.
“The high school students did an awesome job of getting the [ELL] students involved and showing off their beautiful plants,” Bever said. “The ELL students learned about different types of soil, planting seeds, and caring for plants.”
Bever said the students also got some hands-on experience by watering the plants with a sprayer and planting lettuce in a pot.
In fact, the students were so moved by the tour, they now plan to purchase some of the High School’s greenhouse vegetable plants for their gardening project, and one 7th Grade girl is now also interested in checking out the Agriculture Program when she gets to the High School, Bever said.
After the tour of the High School greenhouse, the girls visited with the All Cultures Equal director, Leslie Kauffman, to see what gardening equipment was needed for their gardening program.
When Becky Hacker-Kluver informed the ELL students of the amount of money they had earned from working in the concession stand, they knew what they wanted to do with it.
The students talked about the items they thought they could afford to buy, and looked in catalogs and online to see what the items looked like and how much they cost. They chose to purchase a wheel barrow, hose reel and a hoe from Bomgaars.
But their generous spirit isn’t disappearing when the school year ends.
The girls have already planted some vegetable seeds in containers, and they plan to transplant them into raised beds later in May (when any change of frost is out of the picture).
During the summer, the ELL students will take care of the raised bed gardens they plant, and the produce they will reap will be donated to Upper Des Moines Opportunity.
Wow! What a great way to represent Webster City Community Schools, and what a great demonstration of our Essential Learnings!
Great job, girls!
Webster City Community Schools 