Parent Teacher Magazine Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools January 2014 | Page 6

Filling shoeboxes with generosity

Vance and James Martin schools partner to provide for homeless
Leadership and art classes at James Martin Middle donated approximately
50 shoeboxes to A Child’s Place to help the needy during the holiday. Once
a week, 11 Vance High leadership class students visit James Martin Middle’s
leadership and art classes to mentor their eighth-graders on environmental
justice projects. The schools have partnered to apply what they are learning
and to make a positive impact.
The James Martin students collected and decorated shoeboxes filled
with toiletries, gloves, scarves and other items for the homeless. To get help
with donations, they wrote letters to local organizations and companies.
They also reached out to students and staff to gather donations for A Child’s
Place, which works to erase the impact of homelessness on children and
their education.
“Working on the shoeboxes was a great way for us to start working
together,” said Skye Kanu, an eighth-grader. “They are showing us, by example,
what a leader is and giving back to your community is a big part of that.”
The Shoebox Project is one of four that James Martin students will work
on in partnership with Vance and MGR, a nonprofit that empowers youth to
improve their communities, focusing on arts, environmental justice and health.
“The Vance students let us come up with our own ideas for our projects,”
said Andrew Ramirez, an eighth-grader. “They work with us every step of the
way but they don’t tell us what to do, they listen and make suggestions but
ultimately we make the final decisions.”
James Martin students benefited from the project and the mentorship
they received from the high school students. They learned about community
involvement and decision-making. They also built strong peer-to-peer
relationships.

4 • January/February 2014 • Parent Teacher Magazine 

Senior
Bre’Anna
Washington
added that she
was impressed
with the level of
maturity that the
middle school
students showed
throughout the
process.
“These types
of projects help
students develop
leadership and
organizational
skills,” said
Jennifer
Campbell, James
Martin drama and
leadership teacher. “It also teaches them to work as a team.”

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