April 2015
Box Top Drive
During the month of March, Messiah College participated in a Box Top drive on campus which was led by college students. Downey students contributed by decorating collection boxes which were placed around Messiah’s campus. The Messiah College community dropped off Box Tops throughout the month, and a total of $109.60 was raised for Downey school! This money will be used to purchase school supplies. Thank you to everyone who contributed to Downey in this way.
Service Day
Each Spring Messiah College cancels classes for a day so that students and faculty can dedicate the day to service. This year on Service Day, April 16th, 50 Messiah College volunteers served at Downey. Among our volunteers were students, faculty and the Messiah College Development Office. Volunteers arrived eager to serve and proved to be extremely helpful.
Most of the service projects around the school were led by Downey teachers and student teachers from Messiah College. Some of the projects involved working in the greenhouse, cleaning up trash outside around the school, filling groundhog holes to ensure safety of students, painting a memorial dedicated to a former teacher, writing cards of encouragement to students, volunteering in classrooms, and spending time playing games with students.
As always, Downey students were very excited to see people from Messiah College visiting their school. It was special to have volunteers working with students in classrooms and simply by serving and playing alongside them. In one preschool classroom, students remarked that they want to grow up to be like the Messiah College student who visited their class. In the words of Travis Peck, Downey School Principal, “Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who have supported Downey School during their service learning day. Also, thank you to our student tutors, teacher candidates and professors/staff for their continued support.”
Block Party
For months leading up to April, teachers at Downey worked hard in planning the 3rd Annual Block Party to celebrate the Together for Tomorrow Partnership. Downey teacher and coordinator of the Block Party, Jessie Smith, along with Levonia Dupree shared, “On Saturday, April 25th, Downey Elementary and Messiah College hosted the 3rd Annual Together for Tomorrow Block Party. The event was held at Downey, where more than 30 agencies and businesses joined the two schools in promoting various careers and shared information that could assist families in many ways. Participants seemed to enjoy themselves and engaged families in various activities throughout the day. We want to thank everyone who assisted in making this a successful day.”
Activities during the party included a bake sale, a fire safety demonstration, outdoor music, games, an obstacle course, storytime, Nutrition Program demonstrations, a bounce house, science experiments, face painting, a tractor trailer tour, and much more. A highlight for everyone, except for maybe the school Principal, was the dunk tank where students got to try and dunk their Principal, Travis Peck. Participants also enjoyed a free lunch, a scavenger hunt for students, and raffle prizes donated by local businesses.
The Block Party could not have happened without the support of school staff, parents, volunteers, community partners, local agencies, and businesses. Thank you to all who took the time and effort to make the 3rd Annual Block Party a success! We hope you will join us again next year.
Upcoming Events:
May 1st - Downey Service Day - story will be included in May 2015 update.
May 14th - Leadership Day
May 21st - Family Fun Night - End of year cookout 5:30pm - 6:30pm