Students across Near North District School Board (NNDSB) are active citizens in their communities every day. As part of a civics and citizenship class at Almaguin Highlands Secondary School (AHSS), students helped sweeten the holidays for local seniors.
Teacher Laurel Gough’s civics and citizenship class ran a Christmas cookie collection for a local initiative, Adopt a Senior for Christmas. The project is run by Meranda Wood, an AHSS graduate who works for the North Bay Police Service.
Gough says this all came together during a discussion about active citizenship within our communities. Students were wondering what kind of difference they could make.
“This provided an opportunity to discuss the various ways we can have a significant impact within our area, including running a holiday charity drive. We discussed the significance of thinking beyond ourselves, developing empathy and understanding the needs of others,” said Gough. “The students created their own promotional material for the Christmas cookie collection, and even wrote and read their own morning announcements. They are a wonderful group of caring individuals who will surely go forward to become excellent active citizens within their communities,” she said.
Though the project was spearheaded and organized by Gough’s class, all AHSS students were invited to donate contributions.
Adopt a Senior for Christmas helps seniors in the community who are alone for Christmas by collecting their wish lists and creating stockings for them, as well as organizing someone in the community to buy them a gift. The gifts are then distributed to the seniors.
“The Grade 10 students in Mrs. Gough’s civics and citizenship class learned the importance of active citizenship. We learned that being an active citizen is the responsibility to help out in your community, in the world and to be a person who volunteers or donates to local organizations” says student Charlie Hall. “We applied this knowledge, spearheading a Christmas goodie collection at Almaguin Highland Secondary School for the Adopt a Senior for Christmas Charity.
“The local charity program’s goal is to ensure that no senior feels alone at Christmas. We hope that our contributions created a feeling of Christmas cheer for the seniors who received some of our special treats,” adds Charlie.
A staggering 81 boxes of goodies were collected at AHSS and distributed to local seniors in the community.
Gough says the treats were delivered by community paramedics who ensured recipients knew their goodies came from students at AHSS.