Project Description:
Students and teachers design and implement a year long Service Learning project that culminated with "THE EMPTY BOWLS EVENT", a fund raiser to help the hungry. Through food drives, publicity, and working with local businesses, the students headed an awareness campaign on local hunger, collected food for the RSVP Pantry, and sponsored a dinner that raised over $2000 for the pantry. The school partnered with community members to prepare and serve a meal in the Middle School cafeteria. After the meal, each participant received a handmade souvenir "empty bowl" to take home as a reminder that someone else’s bowl is always empty. The project truly helped to improve the quality of life for hundreds of local residents.

Mathematics—containers to collect coins

Art—various mediums to create bowls

Health—boxes/crates/containers to collect and sort food

Cooking—ingredients for soup

Performance-based Education|
Students plan and carry out an event that benefits the community and teaches academic skills (see Academic outcomes, next page).

Students work in groups to organize food collections.

Students work in teams to collect "Pennies for the Pantry".

Interdisciplinary Approach
Social Studies/Citizenship, Health, Language Arts and Math are used throughout this project.

School-to-work Transition
Students were able to observe various social service professions (personnel involved in homeless shelters, counselors, Seniorcorps--RSVP Pantry volunteers) as well as personnel involved in restaurant and food services.

Whole-Language Approach
Students applied their communication skills throughout this project.

"Project EAT" (Everyone Ate Today), is a county wide food collection program sponsored by Monmouth County Division of Social Services (MCDSS). The elementary schools participate in on-going food drives conducted by students learning about nutrition and the food pyramid in Health classes. Through Project EAT students explore what hunger is, what its causes and effects are, the extent of the problem locally, and the resources available to combat the problem. Project EAT overlaps into many aspects of the classroom curriculum:

Health
Students learn about health, nutrition, food groups, and hunger. Activities may include sorting food according to the food pyramid, visiting the pantry, shelving food, organizing collections based on a theme -baby food, peanut butter and jelly, soup, or whatever the current needs are at the pantry.

Math
Students count, record, and graph items collected, make class comparison charts to show how much has been collected, create word problems relating to food collected, participate in a mock shopping spree--adding prices to fit within a food budget, and discuss how it feels to shop with very little money.

Language Arts
Students read stories or articles about hunger, homeless, and poverty, write about how it feels to help others, and what they have learned; and practice public speaking while making announcements regarding the food collection, and presentations to other classes.

Art
Students create posters and bulletin boards to advertise Project EAT and design and decorate collection boxes for each class.

Social Studies/Citizenship
Students discuss the issue of local and world hunger, welfare issues, home-lessness, ways in which we can help, how the changing society has effected the issue of hunger, and learn how agencies/organizations have helped.

Computer
Students design banners and flags to advertise food collections.

Personal Growth Outcomes
Students develop a sense of pride in helping members of the community meet basic nutrition needs. Students learn the value of applying basic academic skills to a Service Learning activity.

Community Involvement
Families/friends contribute to the Project EAT Food Drives.

Parents and Volunteer Involvement
The PTO/A Council assists with publicity in newsletters and treats for classes collecting the most food, and volunteers from MCDSS and the RSVP Pantry speak to students.

Reflection Activities
Classroom discussions about various stages of the activity.

Means of Assessment

Bagging 3 "nutritionally sound "meals for a test/quiz grade.

Teacher observation during activities.

Some students may be hesitant about making presentations to other classes.

Practice oral presentations during class to ease shyness. Work in teams for presentations.

Classes collecting the most food would receive a treat from PTO/A Council, pizza party, or visit the pantry to deliver and help shelve the food.

The more people involved with the project, the better. It is a wonderful way to integrate curriculum and unite the entire school.

"Empty Bowls Event"
Out of increased teacher and student awareness and interest in the hunger campaign, other classes in the Elementary, Middle and High Schools become interested and involved in hunger related projects that also benefit the pantry.

Art
Students create souvenir bowls in all grade levels, from whatever art medium classes were learning about. Bowls were ceramic, slab, molded, glazed, painted, sponged, plaster, self hardening clay, etc.

ESL
Third to fifth grade ESL students participate in a weekly Intergenerational program"Reading Buddies" at the Senior Center. These students made ceramic bowls with their buddies, and wrote and delivered speeches about hunger, Project EAT, and the bowls they made.

Foods Classes
Middle and High School students in Family and Consumer Science classes prepared soup to donate to the dinner.

Math
Two elementary school Student Councils and two Middle School Special Needs classes practiced math skills—adding, subtracting, and counting money—while conducting "The Great Penny Race". Details are outlined on attached page.

Instrumental Music
Students in the HS Clarinet Ensemble entertained during dinner.

Drama
Students in HS and MS Drama classes performed at the event.

Industrial Arts
Tickets were designed and printed by a HS Industrial Arts class.

Personal Growth Outcomes
Students develop a sense of pride in helping members of the community meet basic nutrition needs. Students learn the value of applying basic academic skills to a Service Learning activity.

Community Involvement
Additional food to be served at the Empty Bowls Event was donated by local businesses.

Parents and Volunteer Involvement
Ticket Sales were headed by the PTO/A Council. All proceeds are profit as everything for the meal has been donated.

Set-up, clean-up and centerpieces were done by the Middle School Student Council. Centerpieces were made using canned goods collected in Project EAT food drives, tied with a ribbon, and a flag listing donors sticking out from the top.

Reflection Activities
Student discussions about various activities and a Service Learning reflection display at the dinner showing all stages of the event.

Means of Assessment
Teacher observation of student performance and completed projects during various stages of the activity.

Hurdles Encountered
Some students may be hesitant about making presentations to other classes.

Solution
Practice oral presentations during class to ease shyness. Work in teams for presentations.

Celebration/Recognition
At the Empty Bowls Event, all classes were recognized for their participation and a display featured each groups’ activities. A photo and announcement appeared in the local newspaper about the event. A recognition event was held where a check was presented to the pantry.

Key Findings
The more people involved with the project, the better. It is a wonderful way to integrate curriculum and unite the entire school district.