Connelly Middle School, New York, NY





Cornelia Connelly left us with many inspiring words. To “Courage, Confidence, and Cheerfulness” we have added leadership. The 8th graders have embraced leadership as their theme for the year 2008-2009. They will demonstrate this by two service projects. On Halloween, the 8th graders spend the morning creating a “Haunted Classroom”, complete with blacked-out windows, scary music, and all sorts of things that go “bump in the night.” Every student and staff member will donate $1 to benefit UNICEF. The 8th grade has been doing this for over 8 years and has been highlighted in the UNICEF newsletter for this creative project.

The 8th grade’s year long service project will take them down the street to a nearby public school, Girls Prep, where our students will read to the kindergarten girls.There is a great mutual benefit to this project, with our girls reaching out to the younger students and the younger students enjoying one-on-one attention.Seeing the wide-eyed excitement of the 5 year olds helps our 8th graders realize that giving of yourself is its own reward.