Springlake-Earth students donate socks to benefit shelter

Thursday afternoon, Jamie Mendoza, from the Springlake-Earth School, informed me that the students at the School have been working on a sock drive to benefit “The Family Promise Homeless Shelter” in Lubbock.

With “The Family Promise Homeless Shelter,” their mission is to empower homeless families and children to achieve long-term independence, by providing temporary shelter with support and growth opportunities.

The Shelter received the 2019 Community Impact Award from the Community Foundation of West Texas, for the great impact they’re making among homeless families in Lubbock.

Jamie went on to explain: “Beginning when a child enters the first grade, they are placed into groups such as “The House of Friendship,” “The House of Courage,” etc, and they remain in these same groups up through the seventh grade. Being in these groups helps to foster a sense of community, closeness, and family.

“This year, the groups came up with Community Service projects, and so the “House of Courage” decided to sponsor a sock drive to benefit “The Family Promise Shelter” of Lubbock. In total, the kids collected nine large boxes of socks, for a grand total of about 300 pairs of socks, along with raising $123 in cash.”

Thursday, Erica Webb from “The Family Promise Shelter” came to pick up all the donations.

Jamie gave a little more detail about the groups there at Springlake-Earth, and she explained “Each group is rewarded for many different things throughout the school year. They receive points for such things as good grades, good citizenship, projects they do, such as, this past Halloween we held a costume contest and the groups got rewarded points for the best costumes. The kids also have shirts we made with the names of their individual groups on them, and if they wear them on Fridays, they earn points for that as well. This year, at the end of the school year, there will be a trophy awarded for the House winners with the most points.”

Jamie said they came up with this idea because: “We heard about this from Ron Clark, who founded the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia.”

The kiddos at the Springlake-Earth School have very interesting days and projects, with goals to work for throughout the year, and we wish them the best. We also congratulate “The House of Courage” on their amazing sock fund-raising project, and for helping so many who are less fortunate at “The Family Promise Shelter.” I thank Jamie Mendoza for taking the time to visit with me Thursday afternoon, and for recognizing these awesome kiddos and their project.

After speaking with Jamie, I did some research and thought everyone might find this interesting for a bit of history related to ties to how the school came about to hear of him and do this project.

Ron Clark is an American Educator who has worked with disadvantaged students in rural North Carolina and New York City.

Ron founded the Ron Clark Academy in the Fall of 2007, in Atlanta, Georgia. Ron is also a bestselling New York Times author, plus a motivational speaker with his focus being on inspiring Educators. He has taught in Harlem, in New York City, and there he saw what a difference he could actually make by enabling change in the lives of the less fortunate children there.

With the help of Co-Founder, Kim Bearden, Ron began his private, non-profit school in Atlanta, Georgia. They follow a unique curriculum, with focus on respect and school policies. Some of these things include being honest, always make eye contact, respect ideas from others, and amazingly enough: “Do not bring Doritos into the Building”..lol. (I thought that was a cute one).

Ron also proposed what he called the 11 traits of excellence: Enthusiasm, resilience, humor, common sense, creativity, reflection, appreciation, balance, adventure, confidence and compassion. All are excellent ideas, and I know so many families are thankful for his Educational system and Academy.