Sierra, the student who thought of the idea Harry Potter for Hospitals, has an enormous amount of empathy for girl her age. It was in the middle of art class when she announced her desire to help others by raising money to buy book sets for children in hospitals. As a result, all of Sierra's peers want to be involved, too! I believe this intrinsic desire to help others MUST be fostered!
We have an amazingly diverse student body at our middle school. Our students love to come to school every day and for many of them, look back onto their middle school years as their favorite academic school years. Some common characteristics among our students include an appreciation for cultural diversity, an understanding of shared leadership, tech savviness, creative problem solving and global thinking. Our students work hard every day and give up their spare time to give back to their local and global community through community service activities.
Our project idea is to buy full sets of the Harry Potter book series to donate to children battling illness in hospitals. This idea was inspired by an 8th grade student named Sierra. Sierra thought of the idea to help children ease the burden of illness by providing them with the Harry Potter book series. Since we were in the middle of a Harry Potter Art Unit, helping children feel better by providing them with the Harry Potter series seemed like the perfect idea!
Community Service and awareness is a skill that most colleges require. Having the idea of providing children in hospitals the Harry Potter series generated intrinsically from my student speaks not only to a high level of empathy, but also to an understanding and interconnectedness to our community at large.
In Their Own Words
My project idea is to buy full sets of the Harry Potter book series and give them to children in hospitals. Because most of my art class learned how to write calligraphy recently, we would also write Hogwarts acceptance letters for each child. Once we get our books and letters ready, a small group of students and teachers (including myself) would dress as Harry Potter characters, or just witches and wizards, and hand-deliver the items. The goal of this project is to brighten the lives of sick children with the magic of Harry Potter.
I know that to take on a project this big, I need to be prepared to take on a variety of leadership roles. I have already started to utilize my leadership skills through this project, thanks to taking the lead on fundraising ideas and brainstorming how to make this even more magical! I know that I am going to discover many more ways to develop my leadership skills. I will make the most of this leadership opportunity by learning from the positives and negatives through the process of this project. Taking the time to seek feedback in order to revise an approach is a leadership skill that I am prepared to activate. For example, if I sense that one campaigning method doesn’t work, I will seek feedback and develop a better idea. If people really like what I’m doing and are engaged in the process, then I will continue with my original plan.
Reading has always been a favorite past-time for me, especially when I just want to escape from everything around me. Reading the Harry Potter series is magical, like entering another world and becoming a part of it! I want to be able to offer that magical experience to children in hospitals. If this project is funded, I will use all of the money to buy book sets for hospitals. I personally will deliver the book sets to the pediatric ward. If we have any leftover money, we could use it to buy individual Harry Potter books and movies to give to the hospital itself, so those going through medical treatment can check out the book/movie when they need it. This way, there is a continuation of the project.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Novello and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
