Friday, December 7, 2001
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Friday, December 7, 2001 |
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Schools come through big-time in food drive Inter-school rivalry, classroom competition and students' drive to help their fellow man was put to work toward community service, as all 26 Coweta County schools participated in this year's Christmas in Newnan Can-A-Thon. East Coweta High School topped the list of food donors with a whopping 43,823 cans delivered to the Newnan Junior Service League's Can-A-Thon headquarters on the North Court Square. In all, Coweta County schools raised 122,580 items for the Can-A-Thon - nearly meeting by themselves the League's community-wide goal of 130,000 items. Long-time Can-A-Thon coordinator Tom Corker met students on the Court Square and surveyed the tractor-trailer full of canned goods manned by East Coweta High's student government officers. The ECHS Indians marching band trailer was stacked to its roof with boxes. Corker thanked not only ECHS, but the whole school system. "The school system has supported the Can-A-Thon since day one, and they've always supported it in a grand fashion," said Corker. "We often hear bad things about kids, and we don't hear enough about things like this. Coweta County school students support this effort every year, they do it well, and they help their community in the process." ECHS Student body President Chris Herdener said that the school raised the record number of items through competition between first block classes at the high school, and because of strong teacher and parent support. Atlanta Falcons linebacker and Food Bank spokesman Keith Brooking - an East Coweta alumni - also held an autograph session Nov. 10 to help the school raise cans and funds for this year's drive. Every Coweta County school - including the 100-student Maggie Brown Pre-Kindergarten School - participated in this year's Can-A-Thon. Schools raised food for the needy each in different ways: ·The Central Educational Center met its 5,000-can goal for its first year by setting an irresistible incentive - teachers allowed students to paint their hair any number of wild colors if the goal was reached. "We weren't really sure they could raise that many cans," said high school student Director Janie Lore. But they did. ·Newnan Crossing Elementary raised 7345 cans. "We set goals - six cans each, double goal, triple goal," said Principal Terri Lassetter. "If the goal was doubled, the class receives an ice cream party, and Triple Goal receives a pizza party." ·At Jefferson Parkway, the winning class got a pizza party. The students competed against staff members without a homeroom. ·Atkinson raised 1066 cans. The class that brought the most cans received a free ice cream for each student. "Our can-a-thon has been a big success this year," said Ruth Hill Principal Nancy Royal. "We have collected 805 cans, and we have displayed a large turkey graph in the front hall showing which grade level has contributed the most cans. At this point the fifth grade has won the competition! The Student Council members made signs that were displayed around the building encouraging the students to contribute." ·Arbor Springs raised over 2,200 food items. "We have really emphasized doing good because that's the right thing to do," said Principal Patricia Falk. "Generosity' was our 'Gator Word of the Week' last week, so the whole notion of Thanksgiving, generosity, and giving to others has been our focus ... We read the count each day, and encouraged our kids to do more because it's the right thing to do." Coweta County School System Director George Justiss has helped county schools deliver their Can-A-Thon donations for 14 years. He expects a few more muscle aches Wednesday morning for moving 30,000 more cans this year than last year. "We filled two trucks up Monday, and then five on Tuesday," he said. Coweta County Schools have a long tradition of service in the community Can-A-Thon. Schools brought in 90,116 items in 2000, and 87,634 items in 1999.
(unloading) Coweta County school system employees unload cans collected by county elementary schools at the Food Pantry. County schools provided over 122,500 items toward this year's community Can-A-Thon.
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