Green Acres School

Sixth Grade Collects Clothing for the Homeless

In Language Arts class 6th graders read the novel Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, which focuses on themes of homelessness, racism, and illiteracy. The story chronicles the life of a 12-year-old boy, Maniac, who is homeless and on the run. Throughout the novel, the boy encounters many people and touches the reader with his empathy and caring nature. As the 6th grade students read the book, they were inspired by the courage of this homeless child. As the weeks progressed, students listened to stories about various facets of homelessness, researched non-profits around the world that address homelessness, and wrote monologues from the point of view of a homeless person.

In learning that November was Homeless Awareness Month, the students generated ideas for community service projects to benefit the homeless community. They decided to organize a school-wide winter clothing drive for Shepherd’s Table in Silver Spring, MD. Students were responsible for logistics of the project, including planning, marketing, soliciting clothing donations, and organizing donated clothing. In the end, students showed enormous enthusiasm for this project, while gaining a valuable lesson in how to help others.

A 6th grader writes about how helping the homeless community helped her classmates:

The winter clothes drive has not only affected the homeless, but has affected the 6th graders, too. Fellow students said these things:

“It makes me feel good about myself because I’m helping my community.”

“I am now more aware of the homeless community around me.”

“I feel good about myself because these clothes can help someone get a job, or home, and I helped.”

“I think it’s cool that we’re kids and kids don’t usually get to help out with this kind of stuff.”