Service learning at BFA Fairfax

BFA Fairfax third and fourth-grade students in Mrs. Farrar’s and Mrs. Myers’ classrooms have recently been learning about energy and the transfer of energy. As the classes explored ways to demonstrate this science concept, our students inquired about doing something that would also give back to our community after the past two years of challenges. 

Students brainstormed possible activities and agreed on a cereal box chain reaction and food drive. They created a variety of ways to communicate their goals and engage their community in this service-learning project. 

Our students’ passion and excitement were contagious throughout this learning opportunity as they successfully collected approximately 200 boxes of cereal from the Fairfax community. This learning opportunity integrated collaboration, effective and respectful communication, and enforced mathematics concepts through measuring distance and determining angles.

With positive attitudes and lots of hope, the first box fell…THEY DID IT! Cheers could be heard from across the school. Our students were so proud of themselves and we were all so impressed with their teamwork and focus on giving back to their community. 

The culminating activity was ambitious, as together they set up a 150-foot chain of cereal boxes in the upstairs hallway, then down the stairwell, and finally into the first-floor hallway past the nurse’s office. We all waited with curiosity, wondering “Would it be possible?” 

Here is a video of the event!

By Andrea Farrar, Kendra Myers, and Thomas Walsh

Thomas Walsh is the Principal of BFA Fairfax Elementary School and is a regular contributor to THE FWSU STORY.