Charity is focus of candy drive

“We wanted them to feel what it’s like to give of their own,” said Chris Hering, sixth-grade teacher at TEAM Academy, about the school-wide service project her class put on from November 1 to 3. In the wake of Halloween, students from kindergarten through sixth grade were asked to donate their candy – something which belonged to them, which they enjoyed and wanted to keep, and which called for them to decide how much they were willing to share. This was a significant difference for most students from typical donation drives, since the goal was not for their parents to buy something but for them to make a donations themselves. “I think it was a good lesson for them on giving,” said Hering. Some unopened bulk bags of candy were brought in, and the donations were accepted, but these did not count towards the weight donated.

About ninety pounds of candy was collected during the three-day drive, which Hering will take to the Minnesota State Veterans’ Home in Hastings, MN this weekend. Donating the candy to the home was suggested to Hering by Jeremiah Miller, who is very active with Waseca’s veteran organizations. Candy isn’t something typically collected, but the teachers and students at TEAM Academy hope that sharing theirs with the residents of the home in Hastings will bring them some joy this Veterans Day.

To incentivize giving, an inter-class competition was held to see which class could bring in the most candy. The donations were measured by weight on a “per capita” basis, so the competition would be fair across the varied class sizes. The winning class was Alexis Thompson’s fourth-grade class, whose members donated 1.48 pounds of candy per student, for a total of 14.8 pounds. They celebrated with ice cream treats provided by Hering.

Hering regularly encourages her sixth-graders to engage in community service, and not only for veterans. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her class served a breakfast for Waseca’s first responders – this is something Hering would like to bring back. While she is visiting the veterans’ home with the donation, Hering intends to ask about other needs which the students at TEAM Academy can help fill, as she plans to work with her students to do further service projects. In reference to giving back to those who’ve served, Hering said “I don’t believe that Veterans Day or a week should be it and it’s just over.”