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Holy Family students learn to become game changers by Nathan Howes Special to the Beaver 11 | Friday, February 20, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Oakville's Holy Family Catholic School students are learning by working together, they can make a difference in the world. A Grade 8 class of 33 students was divided into seven groups to tackle social action projects as part of their curriculum, with students banding together based on interests or in support of a mutual cause or organization. The projects require them to achieve at least two goals for their cause or organization by the end of the school year -- one by December 2014 and one by the end of April. As of Feb. 11, the class has collectively raised more than $2,000. "It makes me so proud and so happy to be a teacher. During my first five years of teaching, I learned that I really love the Grades 7 and 8 age groups," said Grade 8 teacher Marianne Delija. "They're so creative because they're children, but they're mature enough to see the problems in the world and want to solve them." Brady Hurley's group, The Education Foundation, chose to raise money for Plan Canada -- a development agency working to promote education, health care, child and women's rights, as well as ending global poverty. "Plan Canada was a perfect fit for us because it does have a main focus on education. Overall, it's an amazing charity helping just about anything that needs assistance," said Hurley, noting his group has five members. The Education Foundation's initiatives included a Red Day on Remembrance Day last year, which fetched $100, and a Pasta Night to sell custom-made Plan Canada bracelets. The 13-year-old noted the group's goal is to raise at least $400, with plans to collect money with a lemonade stand and by doing "different work in the community." "I've always been interested in social action ever since I was really, really young. In Grade 6, I had an obsession with Free the Children (FTC) Holy Family Grade 8 students have done many good works for Me to We. Pictured are, from left, teacher Marianne Delija, Athena Curitti, Brady Hurley, Vanessa Zizic, Joshua McCann, Kevin Woolcock, and Sarah Folcarelli. | photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) because I felt that children don't get a lot to do within our society," said Hurley. Delija noted she started working with FTC five years ago after reading a book on the charity, which gave her the idea for the projects. "I was just so motivated. It gave me so many facts and terrible statistics. I was mortified and thought we had to do something," said Delija. "Free the Children not only allows us to help others, but to help ourselves by becoming less ignorant to the ways of the world and becoming more useful." For a fourth consecutive year, Holy Family is a We School -- having attended the most-recent We Day in Toronto in October 2014. We Day is a global youth movement that brings together world-renowned speakers and performers annually at multiple stadium-sized events. In 2014, class participated in FTC's We Scare Hunger initiative, collecting more than 250 nonperishable food items on Halloween. As a school, Holy Family took part in We Create Change, a coin drive to support FTC. The Grades 6-8 classes raised more than $150 in toonies to buy three goats for three families in Sierra Leone. Create your dream Do you want to get BACK TO HEALTH? ...Live without pain or suffering? ...Live a life with optimal Physical and Mental/Emotional Performance? Then call us TODAY to schedule a FREE Wellness consultation and start THRIVING instead of just SURVIVING! Grab a nutritious breakfast or lunch at our Epicurean Eatery. Free shake available for a limited time! Kitchen or Bathroom! 20 Y Exper ears ience Meanwhile Sarah Folcarelli's group of five is called Save the Animals and has raised $700$800 so far for the Oakville and Milton Humane Society (OMHS). The students collected bottles door-to-door on three separate occasions, held juice stands and put together a candy jar raffle to raise money for the local humane society. "We all really care about animals. We think they should have a better stay at the humane society. They should have more services, more blankets, more food and have a better life because not all the animals get adopted," said Folcarelli. The Grade 8 student noted her group hopes to raise at least $1,000 upon completion of the project, which has taught Folcarelli that the "world isn't as pretty as it seems." "I discovered in places like Africa, kids are starving and don't have health care. I wanted to make a difference. I see how much I have and I see that other kids have it much worse than me," said Folcarelli. The next FTC-related activity for Delija's students will be in April, when they will take a vow of silence for 24 hours as part of the We Are Silent event. "It's so satisfying to me, well beyond teaching them anything. I'm not teaching them math, I'm teaching them empathy. I'm teaching them how to care, which is really more important than grades. I think they feel great about themselves," said Delija. OPENING SOON! Katrina Dollano TCM Practitioner Charleston Dollano Dr. Ron McAlister Executive Chef Chiropractor What's Good...? It is the fusion of balanced nutrition, mind and body with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), food cures, Chinese Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Massage. ...That's Wellness by Design FREE INSTALLATION SOmE ExcEpTIONS, pLEASE vISIT ShOwROOm FOR dETAILS. OFFER ExpIRES mARch 31, 2015 333 Wyecroft Rd., Unit 3, Oakville 125 Cross Ave., Oakville · www.whatsgoodwellness.ca · 905.845.5775 905.844.3332 Free Estimates www.aromakitchens.ca