Warm and Fuzzy Towel and Blanket Drive

             

     Warm and Fuzzy    Towel and Blanket

           Drive

Project R.E.A.C.H. is asking you to donate blankets, towels, or any other type of materials to keep animals clean and warm for the cold winter ahead. Please consider donating them to Project R.E.A.C.H. so we can help keep animals warm. We are collecting for this drive until 12/20/13. 

Thank You.

Project R.E.A.C.H.'s Donation Drive

Bow-wow and Meow Holiday Giving Drive

 Project R.E.A.C.H

Project R.E.A.C.H is asking you to spread your cheer to our fur-friends at Salem County Humane Society by making a donation.

Your donation can be dropped off at Daretown School, can be picked up from your location, or can be arranged with Jessica Sears.

Supplies needed for cats include:	Supplies needed for dogs include:	Supplies needed for shelter include:
Canned and dry cat food  Canned kitchen food Cat treats Scoop able cat liter Litter boxes Cat beds Cat carriers	Canned and dry dog food Dog treats Dog leaches Dog collars Dog beds Pooper scoopers	Bleach Lysol Paper Towels Trash Bags Flea medicines Bath supplies Dish soap

"Bow-Wow and Meow" Holiday Giving Drive & "Warm & Fuzzy" Towel and Blanket Drive

It's time to CELEBRATE! Today we received our first donation for our "Bow-Wow and Meow" Holiday Giving Drive (NOW-until December 20th). Remember, we also have our "Warm & Fuzzy" Towel and Blanket Drive going on NOW, as well! No donation istoo small and they all mean a lot to Project REACH and the animals in need.

Our first donation came from Daretown School's wonderful Secondary Science teacher, Ms. Redkoles. Ms. Redkoles donated some treats for the kitties, a bottle of bleach to help keep the shelter nice and clean, and flea/tick medicine for the pups! WOW! Thank you so very much, Ms. Redkoles♥

Here are some thank you messages from each of the groups!

Group 1: "Thank you , Ms. Redkoles, so much for these donations. They will be appreciated by the dogs and cats."
Group 2: "Thank you for your donations for the animals, Ms. Redkoles."
Group 3: "Thank you so much for your donations for the animals. They will be put to good use and we are very thankful."
Group 4: "Thank you very much for your donation, Ms. Redkoles!"

Need more details about these drives? Check out the information below.

                     Bow-Wow and Meow Holiday Giving Drive

                           November 12^th-December 20^th

No matter what holiday you celebrate (or even if you don’t celebrate holidays), we all know the importance of giving and of spreading kindness. That’s why Project R.E.A.C.H. is asking you to spread your cheer to our fur-riends at Salem County Humane Society by making a donation. Your donation can be dropped off at Daretown School, can be picked up from your location, or can be arranged with Jessica Sears.

      Supplies that are needed include:

Cats	Dogs	General
o       Canned and dry cat food o       Canned kitten food o       Kitten milk o       Cat treats o       Scoopable Cat litter o       Litter Boxes o       Cat beds o       Cat carriers	o       Canned and dry dog food (4Health from Tractor Supply Co. and other brands will be donated to other shelters) o       Dog treats o       Dog Leashes o       Dog collars o       Dog Beds o       Pooper Scoopers	o       Bleach o       Lysol o       Paper Towels o       Trash Bags o       Flea Medicines o       Bath supplies o       Dish Soap

“WARM AND FUZZY” TOWEL AND BLANKET DRIVE

November 12^th-December 20^th

Hi Everyone!

            We are working to donate blankets and towels to animal shelters in need. One of our first efforts to give back to the animals in need is to collect blankets and towels to help keep them clean and warm throughout the winter. If you happen to have any towels, washcloths, blankets, or sheets that you don’t need or are taking up space in your house, please consider donating them to us to distribute to local shelter pets.

             If you have any donations, you can simply drop them off to my room! J Also, the students will be participating in other fundraisers and drives coming up in the months ahead! J

                                                                        Thanks so much!

Week 10 Wrap Up: 'Tis the Season for Giving (and CRAFTING)

Because of the NJEA convention, we only had three days of school last week, which meant we had a lot of things to do and only a little time to do it in! :) That's okay, though, because we work well together. It was a very important week for Project R.E.A.C.H., because on top of all of our other classwork, we also had to review our upcoming fundraising and donation drives and determine team leaders for each initiative.

The students each chose the top five initiatives that they wanted to contribute their skills to, and those who liked all of the activities will play an even bigger role in making the drives and fundraisers run smoothly.

Here are our plans for upcoming donation and fundraising drives: (More details, advertisements, and information will be forthcoming)

Donation Drives: 

• Bow-Wow and Meow Holiday Giving Drive: From now until Friday, December 20, 2013, we will be collecting donations for the Salem County Humane Society, and if we can, for other local shelters.

• "Warm and Fuzzy" Towel and Blanket Drive: From now until Friday, December 20, 2013, we will be collected unwanted, gently used towels, blankets, and sheets to warm homeless animals in local shelters.

                        

Fundraisers to Benefit Animals:

• Bake Sales: We will be making treats for a bake sale that Salem County Humane Society will be having at the Tractor Supply Company in Woodstown on Christmas Eve. We are also likely going to be having our own bake sale in the spring! :)
• Customized Bandannas: The students will be customizing Bandannas to both use as fundraisers and to donate to animals to help them get adopted!
• Perler Beads Figurines:The students are making perler beads figurines, possibly into both ornaments and/or magnets and will be selling them to donate the funds raised to the SCHS.
• Ornament Design:The students are designing ornaments and will be selling them to donate the funds raised to the SCHS.
• Jewelry-Making:The students are making jewelry to sell and we will donate the funds raised to the SCHS.

What are your thoughts? What fundraisers or donation drives are you most excited about?! We'd love to hear from you. 

Research Project

I recently did a research project on the peregrine falcon and found out that it was at one point in time on the endangered species list. Scientists went through great efforts to find the reasoning behind the dropping population and discovered that humans were using pesticides for crops and the prey the peregrine falcon eats was digesting these poisons. The poisons then made the eggs for the falcon not fertile and extremely soft, causing a dramatic decrease in population. Thanks to laws passed banning these poisons, the falcons' population has been on the rise and is off the endangered species list hopefully for good. I enjoyed this project because the peregrine falcon is my favorite bird of prey and I always am learning new things about animals.

-Tyler

A Sincere Thank You! :)

       Over the weekend, Project R.E.A.C.H. received some very generous donations from three wonderful women from NJSPCA's A Better Tomorrow for the Animals, a group that I work with to fundraise for animals in need. 

       Ms. Raymond, Mrs. Gambone, and Ms. Olson all donated craft kits, an art kit, baskets, two 2014-2015 calendars, and a set of animal stickers for us to use for fundraising activities. 

        As we are getting geared up for our upcoming holiday donation drives and fundraisers,  these awesome donations are certainly going to come in handy. Thank you so much for helping us to help the animals! 

                                                                                      -Mrs. Sears

Here are some "thank yous" from students "captains" from each of the groups! :)

Group 1: "Thank you for donating all of the kits!"-Keon

Group 2: "My group members and I would all like to thank you for the kits you donated. We will use them for raising money as Project R.E.A.C.H. to help the animals. Thank you so much!" From, Brett

Group 3: "Thank you for all of the kits! All of us in Project R.E.A.C.H. are very thankful and can't wait for the trip and to start making the crafts." From, Group 3 Captain Ronnie

Group 4:  "Group 4 wants to thank all of the people that donated materials to Daretown School to benefit our education. Thank you." -Group 4

Week 8 and 9 Wrap Up/ Moving Forward!

Week 8
Week 8 was a whirlwind! We've been learning about using social media as a tool for promoting change and practicing sharing for animals in need. The great thing is, the students have been doing an excellent job, especially with developing their introductions in the posts. I'm very proud of their efforts. If you "like" our page on Facebook, you've probably noticed that students/ groups have been posting and leaving their "signatures"! Sometimes they have forgotten, but that's quite alright! :) Slowly but surely, they are managing the page during the day while yours truly manages the page on nights and weekends. :) I am very proud of their efforts.

You also probably enjoyed the recent post by Eugene and another Group 4 student about how to make a collage to "advertise" for animals in need. This set of instructions was developed by these two fantastic students in order to help others help animals! :) I'm so pleased with their collaboration. If you didn't get a chance to look at the blog post, here it is for your enjoyment and hopefully learning~ :)
http://projectreach2013.blogspot.com/2013/10/advertising-for-animals-how-to-make.html

In other Week 8 news, I'm pleased to say that Project R.E.A.C.H. will have an even bigger reach thanks to our friendship with the team of Dog By Dog, headed by my friend Mr. Chris Grimes. As one of our aims is to stand up against animal cruelty, the efforts of DBD are very relevant to our learning!

Dog By Dog is a documentary

"that aims to wake up the American public to the horrible realities of puppy mills by following the money trail across the United States and confronting those that have maintained this corrupt and irresponsible system. While many documentaries have admirably exposed the public to the sickening underworld of puppy mills, what has been missing from the public discussion is a close examination of the umbrella of monetary support which have sentenced millions of healthy dogs to death and allowed the most irresponsible dog breeders to thrive. Many people try to save these animals one by one, or dog by dog. This documentary aims to point out the problems of the current system in order to move toward a kinder and gentler one." (Dog By Dog Website)

To learn more about "Dog By Dog," please check out the following social media accounts:
Website: www.dogbydogdocumentary.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DogByDog

More information will come forward as we work out details, but I am sure that you will all be very excited. :) Knowledge most certainly sustains compassion, and collaboration helps to expand knowledge. Working together, we can certainly make positive strides in this world.

Week 9 
During Week 9, students have pressed forward with their collage-building efforts thanks to the help of some peer educators who have passed on the torch to show their peers how to navigate the whole process. Not all of the students have had the opportunity to create posts, but stay tuned.

Groups 2,3, and 4 have been making preliminary concept development for their public service announcements, which means that they have been brainstorming appropriate music, images, and text/ voice-overs that they will be using to develop their collaborative videos.

Group 1 has been working through the full writing process to participate in the "Pets Add Life" poetry contest. I am very pleased with their efforts and use of poetry writing concepts with such literary elements as "similes," "metaphors," "imagery," "onomatopoeia," and "alliteration." I will certainly share their finalized drafts some time during the upcoming week.

Moving Forward
This week, students are going to be working on lessons involving crafting and fundraising efforts! They will also be learning about budgeting for care of companion animals and will be completing a refresher course on how to appropriately interact and greet companion animals. Our trip to the Salem County Humane Society is quickly approaching (Friday, November 15th) and we are getting geared up for all of the fun things we will be doing during our time there. More details on our efforts this coming week will be posted as soon as possible.

Thank you, again, for your constant love and support of Project R.E.A.C.H. We can not begin to thank you enough for your thoughtfulness and compassion!!