Fourth-Grade Philanthropy Partners

3/21/2018

By Jennifer Fogarty, communications content manager

Fourth graders were welcomed into a garden sanctuary located in the center of the Sherman Heights neighborhood where they presented a check for $2,000 to Sherman Academy Garden as part of the LJCDS Philanthropy Partners program.

In community service learning this year, fourth graders have been working hard to research, vet, and ultimately, choose a nonprofit organization to support. In its inaugural year, LJCDS Philanthropy Partners was developed thanks to two generous LJCDS families who donated funds to make the program possible. Philanthropy Partners offers students the opportunity to learn about the integral role that philanthropy plays in bettering the community and the world at large.

Serving as a philanthropic board, students listened to presentations from representatives of three different nonprofits and conducted their own extensive research on each organization. They gained an understanding of the importance of evaluating nonprofits before supporting them philanthropically.

The decision-making process was a long and thoughtful process, which included:

Research: Hadley Zeavin, community service learning coordinator, shared three nonprofits to evaluate: a large, national nonprofit; a middle-income, local nonprofit; and a small local nonprofit organization. Working with Andrea Flagiello, Lower School computer science and innovation teacher, students learned how to use Excel to record their research.

Judging Panel: Habitat for Humanity, Words Alive and Sherman Academy Garden visited LJCDS and presented what the donation would mean to their organization and how they would use the funds. Students carefully prepared questions for the nonprofits and took copious notes during the presentations. Their focus was learning more about the organization’s revenue and expenses along with finding out what rating Charity Navigator gave the organization for transparency and financial ratings. If an organization wasn’t on Charity Navigator, students discussed as a class and determined their own score.

Presentation: Two students from each fourth-grade class produced a PowerPoint presentation for the entire class to review the pros and concerns for each organization. It prompted much discussion. Evaluation included the emotion the organization evoked, impact (both financially and socially), and based on their mission, do they inspire greatness and show dignity.

Voting: Taking into consideration the discussion about the pros and concerns of the organizations, each student voted on where they thought the funds would make the most impact.

“I think one of the most valuable things students realized from this project was that their money would go really far with Sherman Academy Garden as opposed to some of the other organizations where they might only be a drop in the bucket,” Ms. Zeavin shared.

Sherman Academy is an elementary school that serves 700 low-income students in Pre-K through Grade 5. The donation to the garden program will provide additional garden instruction and serve as an outdoor classroom to more students.

During their trip to the Sherman Academy Garden, the fourth graders shared a taco lunch with sauteed swiss chard grown from the garden with Sherman Academy students. LJCDS students learned about the variety of seasonal edible fruits and vegetables, flowers, succulents and butterfly bushes. They also helped plant heirloom seeds of corn, beans and squash, planted succulent cuttings and glued tiny multi-colored carrot seeds on planting paper. The Sherman Academy Garden students were so proud and excited to share their experiences and knowledge of the garden with their new friends.

For more photos, login to the Parent Portal, click on the photo gallery tile under resources and click on Community Service.

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Fourth-Grade Philanthropy Partners

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