By JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer
NORTH BRUNSWICK – Students at Parsons Elementary School learned the value of altruism through two recent schoolwide fundraisers.
Since March is Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month, school nurse Rosemarie Frugoni wanted to honor her sister and a teacher’s husband by teaching the students about philanthropy.
She said the opportunity presented itself by Karly Hutchens, the outreach assistant for the student edition of Pennies for Patients.
“Cancer is an issue close to my heart. I have had breast cancer and my sister passed away March 1 from metastatic breast cancer,” Frugoni said. “I thought this was a great way to get the students involved because they could bring in their spare change and make a difference. And the kids have stepped up spectacularly.”
As of press time, the school had reached $1,500 in coins on the way to its goal of $2,017.
“I think that was important to the kids, to come together and work for someone they know. Part of that is cooperation,” Frugoni said. “I hope they also learned some math by counting and totaling the coins.”
Throughout the month, students gave newscasts during the school’s morning news show about leukemia and lymphoma, according to Lynn McMillan, technology teacher at Parsons.
https://youtu.be/eUxNkKaX57Yhttps://youtu.be/eGd5inSDjhUhttps://youtu.be/7dSC0zqSoVo
In addition, the school also completed a Jump Rope for Heart contest run by the Physical Education Department and the Parent Teacher Organization, which raised several thousand dollars for childhood heart disease.
“The LLS and Jump Rope for Heart fundraisers are just two examples of our school community paying it forward to others,” Principal Luis Ramirez said. “The entire Parsons community deserves the credit for the success of both programs. Through their efforts, in coordination with our staff members, we were able to raise about $9,000 to help others in need.”
McMillan said she believes the students are so willing to participate because the school has a strong Character Education program that focuses on kindness, fairness, integrity and tolerance.
“Our teachers reinforce the importance of using these traits in everyday situations in their classrooms, making children think about the impact their actions have on one another, and apply what they’ve learned in Character Education to modify their actions. Eventually, the students can and will do it independently, and/or help one another to do so,” McMillan said.
“Our Character Education program has been embraced schoolwide. Each morning, there are quotes of the day shared by students on our Parsons News Show for all to see and hear. Character Education lessons are provided for the students focusing on one characteristic per month,” Ramirez said. “Most recently, Parsons Elementary School was recognized as one of 76 schools nationwide to be named a ‘Mix It Up!’ Model School by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance Program. We are very proud of this honor and commend our students and staff members for their continued support our Character Education program.”
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].