Adults are most often the ones coming to the aid of children, but this is an instance of kids advocating for kids with James Monroe Elementary’s School to School Water Project.
Three years ago, Nathan Manderfeld’s fifth grade class started a movement called the School to School Water Project with the intention of getting students involved in service learning through building clean water wells at schools in the developing world. They partnered with Gululu Interactive water bottles and Generosity.org to organize and build the wells.
James Monroe Elementary has helped build a well at a school in Peru and Guatemala in previous years. This year, the class is building one at the Hope School in New Delhi, India—a school that services children that live in the slums next to the garbage dumps of New Delhi, where students get most of their food and clothing.
“At Monroe,100 fifth graders learn about the global water crisis and then take action to raise money through winning the color run, bracelet sales, and our Day of Change,” explained Manderfeld.
For the Day of Change, each fifth grade class comes up with their own fundraising ideas, from lemonade stands, to a swim-a-thon or sticker sales. After the plans are made, students will hold their fundraisers over a weekend usually in the spring. Last year, James Monroe Elementary’s Day of Change raised $1,700 over the span of a weekend.
“Supporting local community events is something I try to encourage my students to do. What’s missing in public education is the aspect of service learning. The Y Be Fit color run is the perfect family event that gets students and families out doing something together and supporting a great cause at the same time. It is also fun to work as a school to retain the participation trophy each year,” said Manderfeld.
The Y Be Fit Palm Desert Challenge is a health and fitness fair that took place on October 6 this year, consisting of a reverse triathlon, a 5K run/walk, and a 2K color run. The school was awarded $500 for their win at the event, which will be used to help fund the efforts of building a water station for Hope School.
“The Y Be Fit Palm Desert Challenge is a wonderful event that brings adults, youth and families together to participate in a fun, rewarding event… We value the importance of providing healthy, active living opportunities for our community,” stated Family YMCA of the Desert CEO Paula Simonds.
Every year, more than 500 representatives of James Monroe Elementary participate in the Y Be Fit color run, with an impressive five years of victory to date. The school’s representation in the color run is so strong that out of the 1,000 participants in this year’s color run, 600 were from Monroe.
The winnings will also help the class to distribute 20-liter jerry cans to the children so that they can take water back to their houses. It goes to show that no matter what age you are, you can always be an advocate for change.
