CANtastic: Promoting Hunger Awareness

March 2012

Hunger is a global problem that impacts millions of people. This year the issue of hunger was brought close to home as the television show 60 Minutes highlighted homelessness and hunger in Central Florida and the impact on school children. We sponsored CANtastic to address this issue.

In Orange County Public Schools over 60% of all students are eligible for free and reduced lunch.

The Service Learning Academy sponsors a food pantry at TCHS to address the need of hunger. In October, students sponsored a school-wide food drive to stock the pantry and to donate food to our partner, the Health Care Center for the Homeless. But we knew we had to do more. How could we get even more food?

We decided to not only to sponsor a food drive, but to make it a can sculpture competition. We challenged clubs, classes and teams to sign up to collect food and join us on March 5th for Fantastic CANtastic where teams would make sculptures or can art to promote hunger awareness. Students collected over 2,000 cans of food to benefit the TCHS Food Pantry and Health Care Center for the Homeless.

Jeanne Comnick, a parent of TCHS alumni and service learning volunteer, assisted all day with the event. Two PTSA parents served as judges for the can sculptures.

We welcome food contributions for TCHS Food Pantry and the Health Care Center for the Homeless. We also collect hygiene products and clothes for students and the homeless. Members of the HCCH H.O.P.E. Team said that the homeless who live in the woods especially like Gatorade, cans of food with pop openings like Vienna sausage, and pasta meals.

Some photos highlighting the CANtastic event:

Watch the 60 Minutes segments on Central Florida homelessness and hunger:

State and National AmeriCorps Conference

February 2011

Courtney invites conference participants to attend our bracelet-making session.

Volunteer Florida held the 2012 Florida AmeriCorps State and National Service Conference from February 24-25 in Orlando. TCHS Service Learning Council students participated! The conference was an extraordinary opportunity for Florida's National Service members to come together for educational and inspirational opportunities to enhance their service.

Service Learning Council students presented two service learning workshops at the National AmeriCorps Service Learning Conference. The goal was to highlight a high school with a successful service learning program and show how Americorps volunteers could partner with or help to establish student service learning programs in their communities.

We also gave a hands-on workshop for 150 AmeriCorps volunteers to teach participants how to create bracelets made from magazine beads. The bracelets were sold to donate money for the homeless.

We manned a display at the conference to promote the TCHS Service Learning Academy and to sell student created recycled crafts to raise money for the Health Care Center for the Homeless.

Through participation in the conference the service learning students were given opportunities to teach, apply what they learned in class and participate in a valuable event. Thank you Volunteer Florida and Florida AmeriCorps!

Council students take a rest

Workshop presenters 

TCHS Service Learning Council sophomore Courtney

was the youngest star of the conference and an eloquent speaker.

Alejandro straightens the display at our booth.

Conference fun!

Our bead making workshop from the catalog

Students had to make over 4,000 beads from recycled magazines for the conference workshop!

A Green Holiday!

December 2011

The annual Green Holiday event is sponsored by the Service Learning Council and students in December to raise awareness on recycling and green choices during the holiday season. This year's was the biggest and most successful with many students, faculty, parents and community partners attending!

In preparation for the event, students studied the benefits of recycling, energy conservation and how making green choices benefits the environment. We created bulletin boards throughout the school to promote a green lifestyle by providing tips and information. We also made public service announcements for the WOLF TV to share green tips and to promote the event.

After study and research, student groups prepared displays for the event with each group highlighting how to change trash into useful holiday items or what steps to take to have a green holiday. Students highlighted why LED lights save energy, environmental ways to dispose of a Christmas tree, and recycled items that can be used for wrapping gifts and making cards. 

We prepared holiday ornaments for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa from cans, water bottles, paper, Styrofoam and other items usually destined for the dump. Displays and booths set up to teach  how to make craft items from recycled materials attracted lots of students. Wreaths made from coffee filters, woven and rolled paper ornaments, straw ornaments, and papier mache hearts and stars were sold to raise money for the Service Learning Academy.  

Miss Teen Earth attended the event to promote environmental issues. A parent from Home Depot set up a display showing the cost and environmental difference between LED and incandescent lights. OCPS environment specialist, Jennifer Fowler attended. American Sign Language students signed holiday songs and two community musicians provided live entertainment. 

This was a great way to share what we learned about going GREEN! We want to thank everyone who participated in this event!

Service Learning students at Green Holiday

Frames and decorations made from pine cones and acorns

Some paper ornaments 

Tree with recycled ornaments

Ornaments from rolled magazine pages

PIT Crew students made ornaments

Some displays

Miss Teen Earth with Mr. Poche

Recycled materials were used for gift wrap, tags and cards. Some bags made from rolled paper.

Miss Teen Earth

Veronica McKay and COMPACT Executive Director George Fuller
judged the ornament contest

Kristy at a booth of recycled jewelry and accessories

American Sign Language students signed songs

Two of the council officers

Ornament from used CD and straws

Science students participated in a scavenger hunt looking for information
about environmental protection and recycling

Coffee filter wreaths

Red Ribbon Day 2011

October 2011

Service Learning students sponsored Red Ribbon Week events at TCHS to promote a drug-free campus. Sgt. Jorge Garcia served as a guest speaker to all service learning classes, speaking on the dangers of gateway drugs.

Students wrote public service announcements for Wolf TV, had a door decorating contest, Ghost Out  and other activities at the Timber Creek campus. The students made a celebrity cemetery featuring gravestones of well-known celebrities who died because of drug or alcohol abuse or were victims of drunk driving.

All service learning students participated in the county-wide essay, poetry and art contest to promote drug-free lives. Mohammed won first prize in the essay contest.

Students also sponsored the "You CAN say no to drugs" canned food drive to benefit clients of the Health Care Center for the Homeless.

The highlight of the Red Ribbon Day was a "Don't Drink and Drive" simulation. Students made over 100 buildings of scale and set up a small city. They took turns driving remote control cars with and without goggles that simulated drunkenness on the city roads. It clearly showed how drinking and driving do not mix. With the goggles on students rammed into buildings and the toy pedestrians and without them students easily maneuvered through the streets.

9-11 Anniversary

September 2011

The service learning students commemorated the Tenth Anniversary of 9-11 by inviting all Timber Creek High School students to write letters to soldiers to thank them for their service. Students from Mrs. Wood's Avalon Middle School classes joined us in the letter writing campaign.

Service Learning Academy students set up a booth in the courtyard. They also invited faculty and students to write messages of peace in chalk in the courtyard.

TCHS Homecoming Parade

October 2011

The TCHS Homecoming was held at Dinoland at Disney's Animal Kingdom this year, so naturally the Homecoming Parade had a timeless theme.  The Service Learning Council and Service Learning Academy students dressed as cavemen for the parade and carried Ice-Age themed signs to promote Service Learning in a fun way: