January, 2008

Success Stories

The Pay it Forward Foundation is happy to announce that it recently funded the following projects:

• Caring for Patients-Huntingtown High School — Huntingtown , MD
• GOLD—N Allegheny High School — Pittsburgh , PA
• Pay it Forward with Books— Herschel Jones Middle School — Dallas , GA
• Pay if Forward Kingdom of Kindness— Escondido Middle School — Escondido , CA
• Kimpachipena(Let's all come together)— Kimpachipena Immersion School —Stroud, OK
• Math Masters— North Columbus Elementary School — Columbus —GA
• Birthday Party in a Box—TL Pink Elementary School— Richmond , TX

Caring for Patients

What a wide and wonderful array of projects! The idea behind “Caring for Patients” was to have students in grades 9-12 buy, purchase and prepare gift bags for hospitalized patients. Each student is preparing 3 gift bags with a variety of cheering items for the patients. Most important, each bag will have 3 note cards in it and the students will assist the patients in preparing thank you notes for the staff and others who have been particularly helpful in their stays. Each one of those thank you notes will also contain a business card made out in the patients name and asking the recipient of the notes to please ‘pay it forward' to three more people who have helped them or been particularly kind in some way. The hospital is not a fun place to be but, hopefully, the students work will brighten the day, not only for the patients but everyone who receives and passes along kindnesses.

GOLD (Girls only Leadership Development)

Prior to applying for the grant, these 30, 8 th grade girls had already signed a pledge with their school, promising to be positive role models for others. They decided to reach out to other girls through an evening of informational and fun sessions such as: Healthy eating, Drugs & Alcohol, Healthy Relationships, Leadership, Self Esteem and so on. The GOLD group then goes on to high school, mentoring and reaching out to other girls there in an effort to Pay it Forward. The high school girls who have gone through this experience before call it a ‘life-changing experience' and say that it has given them enough confidence in themselves to ‘just say no' when offered drugs, alcohol or relationships that were not healthy ones. Congratulations, GOLD—Pay it Forward is happy to help sponsor one of these events.

Pay it Forward with Books

These are 20 student volunteers in the media center... The students select 20 staff and 20 other students to give new books to, anonymously. Each book will have a note of inspiration or appreciation in it and will ask the recipient to do 2 acts of kindness to 2 other people and will include the same kind of note, asking that it be ‘paid forward'. The reason for anonymity is to promote the true spirit of giving with no thanks, just giving to give. The recipients also tend to be extra kind to everyone they meet since they have no idea of who the original donor of the book was. This idea of ‘pay it forward' is also being presented to other faculty members with the idea of perhaps having a ‘Kindness Day' at school several times a year. Great idea, everyone!

Pay it Forward Kingdom of Kindness

This is the wonderful idea of an 8 th grade teacher who was searching for an idea for teaching leadership. She happened to be watching TV one evening and saw the movie, Pay it Forward, again and it suddenly struck her that this would be a wonderful idea for her class. The door to the room is decorated as the Kingdom of Kindness ; a showing of Pay it Forward sets the stage and after the movie each student is given 3 Kindness tickets, downloaded from the Foundation website. When the student pays a kindness forward, they pass forward a ticket allowing the recipient to come to the Kingdom of Kindness room and get 3 more Kindness tickets to pay forward so this spreads out and kindness envelops the whole school, not just the one class and hopefully, out into the community. When a Kindness ticket is turned in the students name is added to the wall so that their kindness and generosity can be seen by all. Our congratulations to Sharon Tinnan, the teacher who thought of this. We need more teachers like you!

Math Masters

A group of motivated and highly competent 5 th graders at North Columbus Elementary School has decided to take on the tutoring 2 nd graders in math skills. They will research teaching methods on line, compose a guidebook of tutoring skills and then commence to tutor in the all important skills that children need to succeed in math. Towards the end of the school year, the 5 th grade tutors will train a group of 4 th graders to become the the next tutors as soon as they get into 5 th grade, thereby carrying the program on. This not only helps the 2 nd graders but reinforces skills for the tutors, themselves. Hopefully, some of the 2 nd graders now being tutored will become tutors, themselves, as they get into the higher grades. Wonderful way to Pay it Forward!

Birthday Party in a Box

Pink Elementary School has come up with a wonderful idea to help children less fortunate themselves.They have decided to make “Birthday Boxes” for children living at the women's shelters or in local foster homes. Frequently, these children get left out on important days like birthdays. The birthday boxes will be made out of shoe boxes, filled with such things as streamers, napkins, paper plates, decorations, balloons and gift cards for pizza and cake. Every child knows how much fun it is to have a birthday party and are very excited about the idea of creating a ‘birthday party in a box' for others. In addition to the goodies inside the boxes, there will also be a note explaining the Pay it Forward idea and urging recipients to find some way of ‘paying it forward', if not materially then with simple kindnesses to those around them. There's always a way to help others no matter what our own circumstances and the students at Pink School are finding this out. What a great idea!

Kimachipena (Let's all come together)

Students at Sauk Language Immersion School have decided to “pay it forward' by achieving a better grasp of the Sac and Fox people, an Indian nation in Oklahoma . Once having become truly proficient in the language of their ancestors, these students will, though the use of language kits and workshops, help to pass their skills onto other Indian peoples in their nation. The declining use of the Sauk language has been detrimental to the history and culture of the Fox and Sac nation as a whole and, not only a loss to the Indian nation but to all Americans. At this time, only 10 individuals are fluent speakers of the language. These students have been raised with parents and grandparents who spoke Sauk and passed it on to these students. Noiw these students are trying, through hard work and study, to learn ways to teach others of their language and history. The ultimate goal will be that the Sauk language will be reintegrated into the Sac and Fox community as a whole as well as culture and history that may be lost once the elders have passed on. Very commendable idea and well worth the efforts!

If the above stories have you thinking about how you, too, could begin to ‘pay it forward', then get together with fellow students and teachers and come up with your own ideas. Put together an application for a grant but remember--we get 100's of applications and many are not funded despite being great ideas ,because they don't clearly and specifically address the concept of paying it forward.

Read the grant guidelines carefully and your school, too, may get a chance to PAY IT FORWARD!

MORE  Success stories!

“Parables Community Theater has the Pay It Forward fever and we will continue to pass it on!” – Adrienne Richardson, Parables Community Theater, High Point, NC

With a grant from the Pay It Forward Foundation, some 25 members of the Parables Community Theater ages 7-16, along with four adult volunteers, presented “Dorothy’s Easter Parade” at Evergreens Nursing Home in April 2006.

The youth filled Easter baskets with Easter bunnies in a plastic egg and personal items needed by the senior citizens. Easter cards were also included, with a request to continue the Pay It Forward idea.

The nursing home residents enjoyed skits, songs and dancing performed by the troupe, and the Parade concluded with the seniors joining in the singing of “Down the Trail We’re Coming.”

Parables Community Theater is a faith-based nonprofit troupe founded in response to negative community influences in 2003 by community volunteers with theater, music, early childhood development, accounting and business backgrounds. Its mission is to strengthen and enhance the lives of underserved youth and build a bridge to the world beyond their communities through theater arts

Alvin, Texas
“I can’t keep up with how many years I have had my classroom participate in Pay It Forward projects each year, but I know that I enjoy it as much as the kids. Not one child has ever complained that they have to do this project for a social studies grade, nor have any parents, who usually take part in some way…I truly believe the concept of paying it forward teaches my students a really valuable life-lesson.” – Missy Nichols, Third Grade Teacher, Alvin Primary, Alvin Texas

Recent Pay It Forward projects completed by Alvin Primary third-graders: collecting change for “Pennies for Patients,” a charity organization for children with leukemia (they raised more than $1,500) and planting flowers for “Keep Alvin Beautiful” (view photos at www.keepalvinbeautiful.com).

Students are expected to do something for someone else and expect nothing in return; they have participated in a Walkathon to earn money for the Alvin Meals on Wheels program, created get well cards and baked cupcakes and muffins for people in the hospital, danced and served refreshments at the Senior Citizen Hall Christmas Dance, and one boy “adopted” his neighbor at Christmas by putting up her Christmas tree and buying a gift and canned goods for her.

Des Plaines, Illinois
”A large population of the students are Japanese, so their grandparents still live in Japan. These students do not see their grandparents very often, so it was nice for them to have a chance to interact with that age group! The materials for their project were purchased with a grant from the Pay It Forward Foundation.” – Thomas Jefferson Charter School, Des Plaines, Illinois

With the help of a grant from the Pay It Forward Foundation, older and younger students learned about cooperation, teamwork, responsibility, respect for the elderly, social skills, planting, and number recognition. Seventh and eighth grade students were paired up with kindergarteners to make tissue paper-decorated plant cups, then fill the cups with Begonia flowers. All the students then visited a nearby retirement home to present the plants to residents, sign songs, recite poetry and play games.

[Please pick up the photos that accompanied this story]

San Jose, California
“In October we raised $610 for the Gorilla Foundation. They have promised us that they will keep it going and Koko will pay it forward too!” – Mrs. Robbins and the August Boeger Jr. High Leadership Class, San Jose, California.

The August Boeger Jr. High Leadership Class sponsors a Pay It Forward project every month. Monthly projects have included filling four barrels of canned food for Second Harvest Food Bank to help feed the homeless, and helping four local families in need by selling candy canes to generate funds, and by collecting home and personal items as well as gift certificates from local stores, all so the families could have a wonderful Christmas.

Exter, Devon, England
“We are now looking at setting up a few bigger projects to take out into our surrounding community.” – Bryce Wilby, Year Eight Head, Priory School, Exter, Devon, England

Discovering the Pay It Forward concept on the Internet, Priory School teacher Bryce Wilby was so impressed he decided to incorporate a Pay It Forward project into the school’s curriculum. He and his pupils have set up peer mentoring groups, school garden and grounds clean-up crews and a homework help club.

Thomas Jefferson Charter School Des Plaines, IL
7th/8th graders were paired up with kindergarteners to make tissue paper decoupage plant cups. The children covered plastic clear cups with tissue paper squares and Modge Podge. Then, the 7th/8th graders came back to the kindergarten room a few days later to help the kindergarteners plant the Begonia flowers in the cups. A few days after that, the kindergartners,and 7th/8th graders visited a nearby retirement home. At the retirement home, the kindergarteners sang "A You're Adorable," while doing the alphabet in sign language. They also performed the "Mexican Hat Dance" for the residents. The 7th/8th graders recited some poetry for the residents. After performing, the 7th/8th graders helped the kindergartners pass out the flower cups to the residents. Lastly, all the students helped the residents play BINGO. When a resident won BINGO, a student would go pick out a prize to give to the resident. During the making of the craft project, the students learned about cooperation, teamwork, responsibility, and planting. During the visit to the retirement home, the students learned respect for the elderly, cooperation, social skills, and number recognition practice. A large population of the students are Japanese, so their grandparents still live in Japan. These students do not see their grandparents very often, so it was nice for them to have a chance to interact with that age group! The materials for their project were purchased with a grant from the Pay It Forward Foundation.

Priory High School Exter, Devon, England
Bryce Wilby, head of Year Eight at Priory School came across the Pay it Forward concept on the internet. The teacher was so impressed; he decided to incorporate a Pay It Forward project into the school's curriculum. He and his pupils have set up peer mentoring groups, school gardens and grounds clean-up crews and have developed a homework help club. Wilby and the students are now looking at setting up a few bigger projects to take out into their surrounding community. Thank you Mr. Wilby and your students for your Pay it Forward contribution.

August Boeger Jr. High Leadership Class San Jose, California
Well, we have continued our monthly pay it forward projects. In October we raised $610.00 for the Gorilla Foundation. They have promised us that they will keep it going and Koko will pay it forward too!! In November we did a school wide food drive. We filled four barrels of canned food for the Second Harvest Food Bank. The food collected went to the homeless for the holidays. In December we picked four families in need within our district. We collected items and monetary donations based on their wish lists. Collections were donated from special teachers and staff within our district. Our Leadership class sold candy canes for .25 cents and all proceeds went to buying the families what they needed. We even had two teachers step up and match the money made by the students. The students from our families got new school sweatshirts and special Christmas gifts from "Santa." We also were able to get gift certificates for each family from Target and Albertsons. We were able to give a Christmas tree and decorations to one of the families that didn't have a tree. Donations included clothes, furniture, toiletries, books, CD's, videos, toys, school supplies, an even a brand new color TV!!! The families were very appreciative of our work and it was worth all the time and effort when we delivered the items and saw their faces!!! Still paying it forward in San Jose!! :)

Mrs. Robbins and the August Boeger Jr. High Leadership Class

Southern Regional Middle School Manahawkin, NJ
Students viewed the movie "Pay It Forward" and completed an exponential growth activity to show how quickly kindness could spread through our school, state and the world. They prepared lunches which were sold to the staff and teachers at our middle school. They created placemats with positive character quotes and decorated the cafeteria in a "restaurant style". The "customers" thoroughly enjoyed the gourmet lunches (two of the teachers on our team are fabulous cooks and created a delicious menu for the four days of our project.) All the profits were donated to charities chosen by the students. They wrote stories and letters which were shared with students who will be coming to our middle school next year. They also wrote personal letters to former teachers, family and friends to let them know howimportant they were in their lives.

We had a great time completing our project. We thank you for the inspiration. We look forward to making this a yearly event for our team. Barbette Lovas Southern Regional Middle Schoo

St. Paul Catholic High School Bristol, CT The student's 9/11 fundraiser began on 9/12 and not only raised over $1,000 in a very short amount of time but also filled the front foyer of the school in two days with water, food and clothes for the men and women fighting to save lives in NYC. Another project was to surprise classes with parties and the only thing that was asked was for that class to pay it forward to another class. Each class tried to outdo the other class with parties that were themed. Some of the themes were a day at the movies, a fiesta and a luau. The students sent cards to troops overseas, made cards at Christmas time and sent them to the nursing homes around the city. They challenged students at a Pay it Forward assembly at the beginning of the year to perform random acts of kindness. The kids responded in various ways and were very vocal in sharing how they "paid it forward". There was also a Pay it Forward class week where the officers of the freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes respectively paid it forward to their classmates during the week.

Southwestern College, Winfield Kansas
The Mind/Body/Universe class (about 50 students) watched the movie Pay it Foward. The teacher, Julie Conrade, decided to make Paying it Forward an assignment. The class split up into about 10 groups and were instructed to find some way to Pay it Foward to the community and then present their projects to the class a month later. Some of the things the groups did included: visiting nursing homes, helping a working family renovate their house, helping a man who had a stroke clean his house because his wife was getting treatment for leukimia out of state, and recycling thousands of bottles and cans.

Port Malabar Elementary Palm Bay, Florida
Martha Tully's Kindergarten Class is paying it forward by making two special quilts for Project Linus. Project Linus is an all-volunteer organization that provides special security blankets to seriously ill and traumatized children across the country. For this project, Mrs. Tully's class designed and hand painted individual quilt squares while learning how quilts tell stories about families, communities and cultures. Mrs. Tully worked with the children to arrange the squares into patterns that they liked before sewing the squares together. The finished quilts will be given to Project Linus so that a seriously ill child may adopt them. Supplies for this project were purchased with a Pay it Forward Foundation Grant. Thank you Mrs. Tully and your class for your Pay it Forward contribution!

Alvin Primary, Alvin, TX, Mrs. Nichols 3rd grade class
My class was assigned to do a Pay it Forward Project as a social studies grade. They had from the first week of school (Sept) to Dec. 14 to finish their project. The kids were divided into small groups but they could attend anyone's group if they couldn't make it to their own. I had a small group make patriotic pins and bracelets to sell for $1.00 ea. They made over $100.00 to send to the New York Trade Center fund. Another group went from door to door in their neighborhood collecting books for children, some planted flowers at our city hall, others painted at a city park, one group made a posterto hang up in school asking for sweaters to give to the orphanage children, some ran in a run for a charity, cards were made and personally delivered to several senior citizen homes during Christmas and the children were invited back to join the citizens in the Christmas party. Food, singing and door prizes were given. One child who couldn't leave home due to personal reasons made 50 cards to cancer patients to give out at MD Anderson Hospital and she made 50 more cards to send to firefighters in New York. The students were graded on participation, creativity, cooperation with others, and attitude. They graded themselves and each other, then I did the final grading. Every child loved the work and never did complain. Most of the children's parents were involved in these activities as well.

Bentley Junior High School, Burton, MI Two years ago, eighth grade students working on conflict management came up with peace activities and the idea for a rally. Throughout the year, Bentley Pride cards are given to students who do a kind deed voluntarily. Students turn cards into the office, receive a bulldog pencil, and are entered into a monthly drawing for a $5.00 gift certificate at Subway. b)eighth grades visited 516 grade classrooms where they discussed the attack on America, and demonstrated positive ways to manage your anger. c) red and white points are given for the activities through the week and at the rally. The points are awarded during the school year for various activities, such as: food drive, Humane Society contributions, Drug Free sign up, and school spirit days.

Tuesday, December 4, 2001 was Pay It Forward Day--two cards were be passed from one student to another from each room throughout the day indicating their name and good deed he/she had done for someone. Idea taken from the book/movie, Pay It Forward.

Sea Park Elementary Satellite Beach, FL
Julie Cook's first grade class chose a caring project to Pay it Forward. In conjunction with a school wide Character Education plan, these children learned about selflessness through caring for others. Through a Pay it Forward Foundation Grant and other donations, Ms. Cook's class purchased make-up bags and filled them with assorted toiletries. The children then took these bags and donated them to the Brevard Sharing Center, an organization that provides assistance to families and individuals in crisis. The children utilized their basic math skills, sorting, graphing, and letters writing skills on this project. See the Power Point Presentation Here >>>

Meadowlane Elementary Melbourne, FL
Barbara Reese's students have also chosen to make quilts for Project Linus to embody the Pay it Forward spirit. Working in teams of 3 to 4, students at this school are making 14 quilts to donate to Project Linus. Students will learn how to use a sewing machine and make a quilt. This project is tied to the student's history, geometry and community service curriculum. Parents and a local quilting club donated fabric for the quilts. The sewing machine was purchased with a Pay if Forward Foundation Grant.

Lakeland High School Lakeland, FL Susan Glynn's 9th-12th grade Leadership Cadre is comprised of students who chose a mentoring program for their Pay it Forward project. In this project 30 high school students were assigned to assist in 15 elementary school classrooms for 12 weeks. To conclude their mentoring activity, the students researched and prepared four 30-minute age appropriate lesson plans that augment the teacher's unit of study. As the lesson plans result in hands-on learning experience, students used a Pay it Forward Foundation Grant to help purchase needed materials. Some of the student created lesson plans include: Cooking with Books, Phosphate and Fossils, and Travels with Trent the Turtle.

Cocoa High School Cocoa, FL
Theresa Valerio has 140 10th grade students participating in "Keeping the Art in Language Arts - Pay it Forward" program. In this project, students combine artistic projects with an assigned literary genre such as poetry or quotations in the form of cards, ornaments, etc. Each work of art / literature will then be presented to an elderly "shut-in" member of the community. In addition to giving the student a vehicle to dispense their own literary works of art, this program will help develop a feeling of community and connectedness for everyone involved. Materials for this program were purchased with a grant from the Pay it Forward Foundation.

Torrey Hill Middle School Fenton, MI
Sheila Cummings chose to combine Language Arts, Literature, Social Studies and the elderly for her group's Pay it Forward project. 100 fifth graders from this school will learn about community involvement and the elderly through writing stories. For this project, Ms. Cummings purchased 120 teddy bears and assigned each student to write an original story. During the month of December the students will travel to four different nursing homes, read their stories and present each elderly person with a teddy bear. Materials for this project were purchased with a Pay it Forward Foundation Grant. Read the lyrics of the students' songs

Bill Duncan Opportunity Center Lakeland, FL Students from this school have chosen Peer Mediation to help Pay it Forward in their community. In this project, 20 students will be trained as peer mediators to help mentor at risk students by encouraging positive choices in a school setting. The students will first be trained in mediation and conflict resolution and then share their knowledge and experience with other students to positively impact their decision making skills and self esteem. A Pay it Forward Foundation Grant helped purchase training materials for this project.

Paul Keys Elementary School Irving, TX
Students at Paul Keys Elementary are participating in "Operation Dear Abby" for their Pay it Forward project. Operation Dear Abby forwards cards and letters to U.S. service members all over the world. Students from this school will create original holiday cards and letters, which will then be sent to a central location for distribution. Students will learn about respect, patriotism and benevolence through this project. Art supplies for this project were purchased with a Pay it Forward Foundation Grant.

Saint Joseph's High School South Bend, IN
500 Student volunteers participated in the 8th "Work for Saint Joe" day embodying the Pay it Forward Spirit at this school. Students traveled on sixteen buses to 90 different sites of elderly or disabled homeowners. At each home students raked and cleaned the yards, did windows and bagged up trash. Students gained a sense of community and satisfaction that they have made a difference in someone's life. A Pay it Forward Foundation Grant helped pay for cleaning supplies used in this project.

Lewis Chapel Middle School Fayetteville, NC
This middle school is helping to warm up the needy with their Pay it Forward project. Students from Lewis Chapel are making "Quillows" (a blanket that folds into a portable pillow) that will be distributed to the needy through the Urban Ministry. Several senior volunteers, who love to sew, have volunteered to share their expertise and help children with the sewing machines. Reading skills and mathematics will be used to interpret instructions, read patterns and take measurements. A Pay it Forward Foundation Grant helped purchase materials for this project.

McColl Middle School McColl, SC
Students at McColl school will be starting a "Good Deed Chain" for their Pay it Forward project. One student will begin the chain by wearing a Pay it Forward Button and searching for 3 students to perform an act of kindness for. Each student who receives a kind deed must then don a button and pay the act of kindness forward to three more students. As each student completes their 3 good deeds, their button will be placed on the Pay it Forward Wall in the cafeteria. A final production (musical and slide show) of this project will be presented for the students, PTO, and Community Organizations. This project is part of Character Education, and is funded by a Pay it Forward Foundation Grant.

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