This group of Grade 4 and 5 students at Osoyoos Elementary School are proud members of the newly-established Culture Club, which was the brainchild of teacher Kirstin Maxwell. The students recently donated 400 pairs of socks to the Osoyoos Gift Cupboard. Besides helping the community, Maxwell said the aim of the club is to have students discuss global issues affecting young students in other parts of the world. (Contributed photo)
A new program at Osoyoos Elementary School is teaching young students the importance of giving back to their community, while introducing young minds to global issues.
Meanwhile, they are also keeping local residents and visitors warm as they recently donated 400 pairs of socks to the Osoyoos Gift Cupboard.
Teacher Kirstin Maxwell’s Grade 4 and 5 students at the local elementary school have formed a new group called the Culture Club and the goal is to introduce her students to global issues, while trying to make a positive difference in their local community here in Osoyoos, said Maxwell.
“I thought it would be a good idea to talk about issues effecting people in other parts of the world,” said Maxwell, who is now in her second year as a full-time teacher at Osoyoos Elementary School. “We decided to call it Culture Club as we will be looking at different cultures and how young students live their lives in different parts of the world.
“We’re also having students bring in food that represents different cultures from around the world. The students are able to sample foods from different parts of the world and then we discuss issues that affect young people in those different cultures. It’s all about creating awareness of what’s going on in other parts of the world for our young students.”
As part of forming Culture Club, Maxwell decided to bring an event that is popular in other communities called “Socktober” to Osoyoos.
The goal was to have students donate as many pair of new socks as possible and give them away to assist others in the community.
Maxwell got in touch with Brenda Dorosz, a founder of the Osoyoos Gift Cupboard, and she gladly accepted a donation of just under 400 pairs of socks early last week.
“Socktober is a popular event in a lot of communities and I thought it would be a good idea to bring it here to Osoyoos,” said Maxwell. “We asked the students to donate as many pairs of socks as they could. They could either purchase them or have their parents purchase them. We also had a sock toss event at the school and we ended up with 391 pairs of socks.”
She contacted Dorosz and she gladly accepted the socks on behalf of the Osoyoos Gift Cupboard and dozens of pairs of socks were placed inside the gift cupboard that is located just outside Town Hall.
“I was informed that the donation of socks are one of the least donated items for the homeless in our community,” said Maxwell. “With an early start to the cold weather over the past couple of weeks, we’re really glad we’ve been able to donate almost 400 pairs of socks to help people through the winter months.”
Maxwell said her plan with Culture Club is to introduce regular classroom discussions about issues affecting young students in other parts of the world.
“It’s all about introducing these bright young minds to important issues that other children their age are facing in other parts of the world,” she said. “We’ll also try and continue working together to assist the community here in Osoyoos.”
Maxwell said the students in the Culture Club are having a great time.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “It’s nice to see a lot of young kids be aware of social issues and feel like they’re contributing to their community.
“This is our first year with the club and I’m confident it will stick around and grow as we move forward.’
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
