Last month Bailey M., a senior from Naples High School, chose to spend his community service hours making 28 cards for local kindergarten students.
These cards were delivered by Champions For Learning to Sea Gate Elementary, the same elementary school Bailey attended.
“Starting school can be intimidating. For these Sea Gate kindergarten students, having beautifully drawn, encouraging cards from a 12th grade student reminded them that everyone starts at the same place. They loved the colorful cards,” shared Amy Snyder, Executive Director of Educator Programs at Champions For Learning.
Bailey made each card colorful with drawings of school supplies with a note inside, “Welcome to Kindergarten! Have fun and enjoy your year. Be kind and respect your teacher.”
Bailey said, “I wanted to include a message on the inside, but I wasn’t really sure how well they could read. So, I just tried to keep it pretty simple.”
The idea of making 28 cards for kindergarteners in Collier County came from a website the Collier County Public School District uses to communicate service opportunities with students. Many of the volunteer opportunities offered to high school students are as a result of an earlier collaborative effort through Future Ready Collier (FRC) to aid students in their search for approved service hours towards scholarships and other opportunities.
Champions For Learning is a partner and the backbone organization supporting Future Ready Collier, a network of organizations, businesses, schools and community members working to ensure every child in Collier County is ready for kindergarten, and every young person enters adulthood with a vision and a plan to accomplish that vision.
To learn more about Future Ready Collier, visit FutureReadyCollier.org
