February 2015

Messiah Basketball Teams Visit Downey

As a part of Downey’s monthly incentive day, Messiah College’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams visited Downey. On the morning of January 29th, teams arrived at the school in uniform ready to visit classrooms and play basketball games against Downey staff and students.

Kindergarten teacher, Valeri White described her students’ experience during the event. “In classroom 115 K-5, my 24 students were so excited for this day. Ahead of time, we talked about Messiah College and why people attend there. I also played in the basketball game against the Women’s team and my kids were cheering us on like crazy. It was a great incentive day for the students to earn that month!”

“We also had one of the Men’s coach and basketball player each come and read a

book. The students really enjoyed having special guests read to them. Just this week a student told Jaylene (Together for Tomorrow Coordinator) that ‘Messiah basketball player and coach came and read a book about a bear that was sick to us.’ They are still talking about this day and making connections to their everyday world. A student asked me yesterday if my daughter Briana played basketball for Messiah-I told him 'no she plays for Loyola College in Maryland'-he replied with a big smile- ‘oh that’s right she isn’t at Messiah’ as he was shaking his head.”

Barnes & Noble Field Trip

On the mornings of February 23rd and 24th, United Way volunteers met up with Downey at the Camp Hill Barnes and Noble. Each volunteer was paired with a student who they spent their morning with. Students worked with their volunteer on a scavenger hunt throughout the book store, shared a snack together and picked out a book to read and take home with them. Thank you to the volunteers at United Way who took the time to invest in Downey’s student leaders!

Tutoring

The Together for Tomorrow Initiative is focused on improving student achievement. How would you like to join in this mission by working directly with Downey students? We are looking for individuals interested in working with kindergarten students one on one in the classroom. Volunteers who are enthusiastic about learning, encouraging and supportive of our students, teachers and school are welcome to sign up. This volunteer opportunity is flexible with your schedule as long as you can make it during school hours. Background clearances are required for all volunteers and information about submitting them can be found on the “clearances” page. For more information, visit our “get involved” page. We hope you will consider joining Downey in empowering our student leaders!

Box Tops

For the month of March, Messiah College will be holding a Box Top Drive to benefit Downey School. In preparation for this drive, Together for Tomorrow Coordinator, Jaylene Nissley, visited a few classrooms at Downey. Jaylene talked to students about Together for Tomorrow and explained how Messiah College and Downey work as a team. The students recognized this partnership to reflect habit number six, synergize, from The Leader In Me. In order to help with the Box Top drive, students drew pictures of themselves synergizing with others. These pictures were used to decorate the collection boxes that can be found around campus. Collection boxes can be found in Eisenhower, Larsen Student Union, Murray Library and the Alumni Office on the Messiah College campus.

Adopt a Classroom

Adopt a Classroom is one way in which businesses, faith communities, groups, and individuals can partner with Downey. An additional classroom was recently adopted and students showed their gratitude. Penn Live captured the happenings in a recent article. Visit the “media” page or click here to read about it. If you are interested in adopting a classroom, visit the “get involved" page.

Block Party

April 25th, 2015 will mark the 3rd Annual Together for Tomorrow Block Party at Downey School. This year we are focusing the Block Party around the goals of college access and employability. In doing so we are inviting local businesses and organizations to join us. If you are interested in participating as a local business or individual volunteer, please contact Jessie Smith at jsmith1@hbgsd.us for more information. If you are a Messiah College student interested in volunteering, please sign up here.

Family Fun Night

This month’s Family Fun Night was focused on reading and library access. Families were welcomed into the library for a night of reading filled activities. Students participated in an interactive story time with Messiah College student, Grace Westfall. They also created bookmarks, read with their parents, and even got to take home a couple books to keep. Parents were provided with information about the Dauphin County Library system and were invited to help their child sign up for a library card.