Deloraine High making a difference for the homeless
Aaron Gilligan
At Deloraine High School, our Grade 9 Project Based Learning class recently read a novel by Seven Herrick entitled The Simple Gift.
In this book, a young person named Billy left his abusive household and became homeless.
Through reading this book we learnt about the struggles faced by people who are homeless, and became curious about what homelessness looks like in our local community.
We visited Deloraine House to pose some of our inquiry questions.
We learnt more about the causes and effects of homelessness, and were surprised to learn about the number of people in our community who it impacts on.
Returning to school, we brainstormed several ideas on ways to help support the needs of people who are homeless.
We decided that a community food drive would be a great way for us to make a difference.
After identifying all the tasks which would need to be completed for this project, we organised teams and assigned responsibilities.
Some students wrote a script and visited MVFM to record a radio commercial, others travelled to Launceston to receive professional mentoring from Think, a creative marketing agency, to help them create promotional videos and posters.
One group was responsible for designing and constructing the donation collection stations, and another planned and led a fundraising event at the school.
It was great to see students using initiative, showing leadership and working together as they participated in this authentic and meaningful learning experience.
All donations which we collect will be given to Deloraine House to distribute to those in need this winter.
