Year 5 students at Matthew Gibney Catholic Primary School in High Wycombe not only raised more than $3,000 for an orphanage in the Philippines, but also designed, organised and facilitated the entire fundraising process.
A morning tea, with rice as the main feature food, and a lap-a-thon event were held at the school earlier this year in which all students from Pre-Primary to Year 6Six participated and raised money through donations.
“The day was a great success,” said Year Five teacher, Michelle Rogers.
“Not only in terms of money raised, but also because the Year Five class was actively involved throughout the entire proceedings.”
Using the principles and guidelines of “Solution Fluency”, a creative thinking and problem solving process being studied by the class, students were able to plan, manage and implement the project based on clearly defined steps.
“The entire process has been a wonderful learning opportunity for the students,” Ms Rogers said.
“Rather than simply participate in the event itself, they have been able to embrace the project from beginning to end and actively contribute to its development and implementation.”
The morning tea was held to give students the experience of eating a food which makes up a large part of the diet for children in the Philippines.
The $3,100 raised was donated to Sumapi Ministries, an organisation developed in 2013 by a West Australian family in response to the desperate plight of widows and children in the Philippines.
Ms Rogers explained the students chose to donate the funds to Sumapi Ministries following a visit earlier in the year by Paige Muhling, the manager of Sumapi and J-Mark, a student who was helped by Sumapi.
“J-Mark shared his life story with the students and it really showed many of them how blessed we are,” Ms Rogers said.