(03/04/2022) At the beginning of the school year, teachers at Brookside Elementary School helped start a student council to provide students with a leadership opportunity and a voice in decision making. For the group’s first service project, the team decided to support two fellow students by collecting items for The Potato Head Project.
Third graders Dylan and Hayden Moan were born at 23 weeks and six days and weighed just one pound, three ounces; and one pound, seven ounces, respectively. To measure their growth each week, a Mrs. Potato Head was placed next to them. From that idea, The Potato Head Project was born. Started by their mother, Kristin, The Potato Head Project is a non-profit organization that supports families of micro-preemie babies during their extended NICU stays.
The student council chose The Potato Head Project for their first service project and during the month of February collected more than 120 potato heads. The school also collected other care package items useful for families with NICU stays, like travel size lotions, hand sanitizer, tissues and chapstick. View photos of the donations collected.
“For me, it’s heart-warming that we get to help people that are having troubles and help them face that,” said fifth grader Molly Hammermeister.
“I like to help parents that have babies born in the NICU,” added Emma Murphy, a fourth grade student.
When asked how she felt about how many potato heads were collected, Dylan said, “Surprised!” And Hayden added, “I was really excited.” They also both added a big, “thank you,” to everyone involved in the service project.
The Brookside Student Council was created by first grade teachers Julia Stock, Meghan Murray and exploration teacher Cindy Houle because they saw a need for student leadership opportunities at the school. The council meets monthly and is comprised of 25 third through fifth grade students. The student council is involved in planning and helping communicate spirit days, pop-up shops and other special events and projects.
“I joined the student council because I wanted to be a leader and help our school,” said Emma Entinger, a fifth grader.
“I like student council and what we do is really awesome for other people,” commented third grader Nolan Dvorak.
