Hawley Students Accept Read To Feed Challenge

On Monday, October 15, Hawley School held its kick-off assembly beginning one month of community reading. For the past four years, Hawley has participated in the One School One Read project. This year, the community reading will link to the fundraising efforts of Heifer International, through its Read to Feed program.

The goal is the same, to establish the habit of children reading or being read to at home. The difference is that the students will be reading for one cause instead of reading one book.

During the assembly, teachers put on a skit which highlighted items an American “needed” to have, i.e. ribbons, jewelry, iPods, Webkinz, etc. But when those same items were offered to a girl from Africa, she had no use for them. What she needed was food, clean water, and money for shoes and to go to school.

A PowerPoint presentation showed the students the various livestock that their donations to Heifer International could purchase. As animals were discussed, students in masks boarded an “ark” set up in front of the audience.

An ark at Heifer International contains a combination of all the animals that can be donated. Heifer International, heifer.org, provides livestock to poor families in developing nations, including cows, goats, sheep, chickens, honeybees, pigs, oxen, rabbits, donkeys, camels, ducks, guinea pigs, llamas, and water buffalo.

These animals provide milk, cheese, yogurt, honey, wool, and eggs for consumption and for sale, as well as pulling plows or carrying loads. Recipients are encouraged to pass on offspring to other needy families.

The school will come to life with activities and murals depicting the theme. Maps, animals, and foods grown around the world will line the hallways of Hawley. Page McBrier, author of Beatrice’s Goat, will visit Hawley on October 22 to share her experiences as she researched for the book.

The Hawley PTA is once again supporting this effort by purchasing a variety of narrative and expository books that link to Newtown’s science curriculum as well as the Read to Feed program. Students, parents, and staff will ask for monetary donations for the amount of time they read.

These donations will be turned over to Heifer International: Read to Feed to support its mission to end world hunger and poverty by purchasing animals that will benefit a family’s life. The family that receives an animal is then asked to pass the gift on to another family, by giving them an offspring.

This global program is one way Hawley students can learn about other cultures and economic differences. While reading to feed their minds, Hawley students will be helping to end world hunger and poverty.