Can Teenagers Change the World?!?

We are now in the fourth marking period and we all know that this time of year goes by so quickly.  We just started exploring the question, "Can teenagers change the world?"  After reflecting on this question most of my students believe that YES teenagers can make a difference in our world.  I'm so happy to hear this because I agree. 

During this unit the kids will be fund raising and planning for a day with Tilly's kids.  Tilly's kids is an organization that works with Pass it Along (www.passitalong.org).  A wonderful woman named Tilly brings kids up to Sussex county from Newark so that they can spend a day with our teens and they can participate in sports, games, and other fun activities.  I set up a Wikispace page and my students are going to organize a day with Tilly's kids.  The beginning of June we will get to have our day! Very exciting!

I am also challenging the kids to a "10 things challenge."  This challenge involves the kids cleaning out their rooms and trying to see if they can donate any unwanted items to the Lupus foundation.  The Lupus foundation will pick up the items and then sell them and use the proceeds to fund research for a cure for Lupus.  This is a simple way to give back and make a difference in our world.

My hope throughout this unit is that the kids realize that there are many small ways that they can help and make a difference.  I truly believe that if teenagers begin volunteering at a young age that they will continue their volunteering as adults.  If you want to get involved locally just visit www.passitalong.org and you can see many volunteer opportunities right in our own county!

The War is OVER!

Restaurant Wars was fun, awesome, a ton of work, and stressful!  It was great but I am glad that it's over.  

The kids did a great job setting up their stations and bringing in food samples.  We had everything from cookies, to BLT's, to smoothies, to venison (I'm not kidding)!  I don't think many teachers have the experience of having a student grill venison in her classroom -it was intense!

The investors came to judge and the kids did a tremendous job pitching their idea. I was really proud of them. I was also grateful to the principal and vice principals for coming up and checking out the stations all day long.  I know that means a lot to the kids when their hard work is noticed by their teachers and administrators. 

Here are a few pictures:

Some delicious cupcakes waiting to be tasted!

Potato skins and wings.

Very professional looking menus. 

A restaurant design where the tables slowly rotate so guests can get a view of New York City!

An amazing design concept. (I wish you could see the drawings!) They incorporated a layout, tile, paint and flooring examples and decor examples.  Excellent!

Cake promoting a restaurant name!

AND...

This is what my room looked like for most of the day:

We were packed into the room but everyone was wonderful and the day was a great success!  

Until next year.... :)  

Hope everyone has a great spring break!