Sanfordville P.I.E. 1 & 2 learning valuable community lessons and give back

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Sanfordville P.I.E. 1 & 2 learning valuable community lessons and give back

June 8, 2022

Throughout May, students in the Partners in Education (PIE) 1 & 2 classes at Sanfordville Elementary took part in a Community Economics Project that culminated in an outdoor market held this week, on Wednesday, in and around the PIE garden. The event was arranged, hosted, and enjoyed by the PIE students, their PIE teachers, and parents, and the project was both educational and purposeful.

View a gallery of images from the event after this story.

PIE teacher Taylyn Carter said students were introduced to and examined issues that affect a community’s economy and the well-being of its citizens. The students learned about “needs” vs. “wants,” earning and saving, how money changes hands in a community, and the ways in which communities meet the needs and wants of its people.

Additionally, students identified activities that they could engage in right here in their own community to help the less fortunate. The important social studies and civics lessons were baked into the larger learning activities, the donation drive and market, which all went to benefit multiple Warwick Valley charities chosen by the students!

The students talked about how they have things that they wanted at one time, but perhaps don’t want or need anymore. They brought these items in to donate so that others can have things they want as well. Leading up to the event, students spent time going through their rooms and houses, looking for items in good condition that they then donated to the drive.

Students were also encouraged to collect donations of food, household and personal supplies, clothing, books, toys, and more. As May wrapped up, the PIE classrooms filled up with all kinds of great donations, and the students planned the layout for their market!

Two windows in a PIE classroom were converted into cafe to-go windows, where students could order drinks and snacks. The PIE Garden was transformed into a “pet” adoption center, full of stuffed animals. A “second hand shop” under the pavilion had racks and boxes of clothing, and a “food pantry” was accepting donations. There was also a “bookstore” with its adjacent “Cozy Corner” set up with chairs and bean bags for reading.

View a gallery of images from the event after this story.

During the market event, students took turns staffing each station with PIE parents, and were also given time to shop. They earned bucks by making donations, and spent them to shop at the market, modeling a basic real world economy.

Afterward, book donations were taken to the Albert Wisner Library, where they will be sold to raise money for the library’s excellent childrens’ programming and summer events. Clothes were donated to Four Seasons and various other Warwick clothing donation sites. Food and personal/household items were delivered to the Warwick Food Pantry, and boxes of donations were also dropped off at the Warwick Valley Humane Society.

The PIE program is designed to foster a partnership among student, teacher and parents that helps to develop creative problem solvers, critical thinkers, risk-takers, and socially responsible, lifelong learners.

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