Food drive sends good message home for kids

SUSSEX — No one, not even 13-year educator Deb Puskas of Wantage, could predict the effect an idea she had to hold a monthly food drive two years ago at the Clifton E. Lawrence School would have today.

What started out as brainstorming new ways to reach her kindergarteners turned into a way for her students to both give back to the community and learn in the process.

“I was driving down to Key West. At the time, I was concerned because our course standards changed in kindergarten, and I was trying to reinforce new ways of learning consonant sounds and letters, and the concept of sorting and classifying shapes,” Puskas said. “Cylinders, for example, are tough for kids that age to understand. Canned goods are cylinders. The food drive was a way the students could participate in community service and learn their shapes and colors by sorting the food.”

So, once a month, the kindergarten students are asked to bring in non-perishable food items for the town food pantry starting with the alphabet letters they are working on in class (ex. P for Peanut Butter). One alphabet letter is covered a week.

The collection runs from October until June, and all six kindergarten classes at the Lawrence School regularly participate in the monthly food drive.

With show-and-tell eliminated from the curriculum, Puskas said the food drive helps the children develop their public speaking skills because they have to describe to the class what non-perishable food item they brought in.

“I really try to have the children at such a young age help out their community,” Puskas said. “I see positive responses from my class every time, and look at all the subjects I was able to cover with that one activity! Plus, the children feel so good about themselves contributing to the food pantry.”

Jenn Bork has been teaching since 2003 and has been a kindergarten teacher at the Lawrence School since 2007. A self-contained teacher, her students are children with autism in kindergarten through the 2nd grades.

“Deb brought up the idea that kindergarten teachers should start asking parents to bring in food to be donated,” Bork said. “I informed her of my interest and said I would like to take my students specifically to different places in the community to work on social skills and the like.”

According to Bork, the Sussex-Wantage Education Association got involved with the monthly food drives three years ago.

"Deb's idea has branched out," she said.

The staff participates in School-Community Spirit Day every Friday where they may choose to either donate money or additional food in order to dress-down and wear jeans.

Two times a year, Bork and two other teachers — Lisa Vanorden and Jessica Musilli — go grocery shopping with their classes to teach them how to walk with a cart, select the appropriate groceries on the shopping list, etc.

“Last year, our union President at the time, Katherine Gomez, was the one who started calling the dress-down Fridays event School-Community Spirit Day, and the current union President, Bonnie Leanzo goes, before the Board of Education and reports to them how the collection is going on a monthly basis,” Bork said. “Overall, I think it’s a wonderful experience for everyone involved."

The kindergarten students collect between 80 and 90 cans of food per month.