Cool Schools for Fort McMurray

In early May, the biggest wildfire in Alberta’s history swept through the town of Fort McMurray, forcing 60,000 people to evacuate their homes. Since then, people everywhere have been finding ways to help.

Take the students of Ontario school C. H. Bray. Their goal was to fundraise $500 to help quench the flames. They hit that target… and then they quadrupled it. By the end of their fundraiser, the school had raised $2136 to help fight the fires. In the words of this poster: way to go, C. H. Bray!

And C. H. Bray wasn’t the only school to help. Students at Crestview Public School in Kitchener, Ontario, stepped up with a creative fundraiser: they could pay $1 to break a school rule, such as the no-hats-inside rule or the don’t-wear-your-pyjamas-to-school rule. Every dollar raised went into helping rebuild Fort McMurray.

These are just two examples of the countless students who have supported Fort McMurray over the past few weeks. To all the young helpers out there: thank you for caring.

-Katie, owlblog@owlkids.com

P.S. Thanks to OWL readers Sebastian from C. H. Bray and Claire from Crestview Public School for sharing these stories with us.

Building a School: One Brick at a Time

Hey, readers!

Did you know that 2014 is the Year of Education? Over fifty-seven million children (more than the entire population of Canada!) are denied access to education, and Free the Children is focusing its efforts on bringing education’s empowering effects to the poorest communities around the world.

But you can’t have education without a school, right? Free the Children’s Brick by Brick campaign builds schoolhouses around the world, one brick at a time. You can go to this Brick by Brick link and find five great ideas for your own school (or family, or Scout troop, or soccer team!) to fundraise towards building a school where it’s needed most.

Free the Children wants your school to fill up this poster with “Bricks” – each brick is a step closer to building a real school for children in need, all around the world.

I was inspired by a photo of three students raising money for Brick by Brick at a bake sale – another great way to fundraise. If you’d like to hold a bake sale for your school and community, here is a delicious, healthy recipe that you could try from our November 2010 issue. Remember, always ask an adult to help you with the oven.

Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 mashed bananas
• 625 mL (1/4 cup) applesauce
• 2.5 mL (1/2 tsp.) vanilla
• 1.25 mL (1/4 tsp.) cinnamon
• 1.25 mL (1/4 tsp.) nutmeg
• 85 mL (1/3 cup) raisins
• 500 mL (2 cups) quick oats

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175˚C (350˚F). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
3. Roll the dough into small balls and drop on the baking sheet.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven. Let cool.

How would you plan to fundraise for a charity? What’s your go-to bake sale recipe?

Thanks for reading, and happy “building”!

Until next time,

-Lauren, owlblog@owlkids.com

Book Recommendation: Isabella Makes a Difference

Hi readers,

Many chickaDEE readers have told me how much they love writing stories. Keep it up because you might just get published one day! Here’s a book called Isabella Makes a Difference, written by Sophia Colette Kofoed and illustrated by her sister, Kiara Lauren Kofoed.

Sophia wrote this book when she was only 6 years old. It’s a story about kids trying to make a difference in the world and not giving up, even if the task seems hard at first.

Isabella Makes a Difference has a great message and I think you should definitely check it out! The book has lots of fundraising ideas that you can check out with your parents, too. Visit the book’s website by clicking HERE for more information.

Talk to you soon,

Mandy

Editor of chickaDEE

chickadeeblog@owlkids.com