Colonial School District stuffs more than "a" bus through its food drive
Colonial School District stuffs more than "a" bus through its food drive
Colonial Elementary School was celebrated as the winners of the Stuff-a-Bus food drive competition held in November. Seen here are Assistant Principal Michael Tauber, left (kneeling), Teacher-on-Special Assignment Donelle Brotz right (kneeling), teacher Jessica Yeager, left (standing), Principal Dr. Rose Rock, center (standing, and teacher Dana Lytle, right (standing).
Thanks to the generosity of the Colonial School District community, close to 13,000 non-perishable food items were collected through the district’s first Stuff-a-Bus food drive.
The drive, which ran from Nov. 5 through Nov. 21, grew out of a desire to provide help during the government shut-down. Schools entered into a friendly challenge to see who could collect the most items over the two-week time period, with the object being to stuff a school bus full of the donations.
In the end, not just one, but four school buses and two vans were filled to the brim with items to be given to the Colonial Neighborhood Council. Donations were collected Nov. 21st as four buses split up to visit each of the district’s seven schools. Plymouth Whitemarsh High School students, School Board members, employees, and bus drivers assisted in loading boxes and bags full of food onto the buses and delivering it to the food pantry in Conshohocken.
It was an especially festive scene at Colonial Elementary School (CES), the school that collected the most food per student. Students loaded food into boxes while music played and teachers danced, waved pom poms, and wore school-bus themed outfits to generate excitement for the day.
Later, CES students learned from Superintendent Dr. Michael Christian that they had won the prize for the Stuff-a-Bus challenge. During a short assembly at the end of the day, he presented Principal Dr. Rose Rock with a bus trophy and announced to the students that they would receive free ice cream at a future date. Dr. Rock added that she would be giving them extra recess time as well for their outstanding efforts.
Efforts to provide for families in need continue throughout the holiday season with the Colonial School District Education Foundation’s Food for Thought campaign, which is going on now. Money raised through this campaign provides lunch for families who narrowly miss qualifying for free school meals and is also used to purchase gift cards for families to purchase food on the weekends. Make your donation online by going to www.colonialsd.org/FoodForThought.