“Veteran’s Day Fundraiser”

The purpose of this fundraiser was to raise money for the Veterans currently hospitalized at the G.V. (Sonny) VA Medical Center. The money received by the hospital was designated specifically to help veterans receiving medical care overcome logistical barriers to their care, such as transportation, temporary housing, food, and necessary personal items. The fundraiser also publicly recognized Veterans who were connected to a student or a teacher at Madison Crossing Elementary School by displaying their name on an American flag in front of the school in a Field of Honor.

To complete this project, Student Council members sold small American flags to the students and teachers at Madison Crossing Elementary School. Each American flag was purchased in honor of a friend or family member who had served or was currently serving our country. After the flags were purchased, they were labeled with the name of the Veteran being honored and were arranged in front of the school. We called the group of flags a “Field of Honor”. The money raised by selling the flags was donated to the G.V. (Sonny) VA Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. The check was presented to staff from the medical center during our Veterans Day program on November 10^th.

“Student Suggestions Initiative”

The Student Suggestions Initiative was set in motion by all members of the Madison Crossing Student Council. Student Council members created suggestion boxes for their homeroom classes and explained to their peers what the purpose of the box was. Students could make recommendations about improving the school as long as it was a realistic and positive suggestion. Student Council members discussed with their peers what kind of propositions would not be realistic. For example, students could not suggest longer blocks of recess time due to state regulations. However, students could make suggestions for changes in cafeteria food, voice opinions on school and classroom rules, and advocate for the purchase of school-related items such as recess equipment. Once a month, Student Council reviews all ideas during their monthly meeting and creates a list of suggestions that they want to discuss further. Since this initiative began, teachers have been made more aware of how classroom rules either positively or negatively affect students, changes have been made to items offered as prizes for good behavior, and goals have been set to build a small school garden as well as purchase new recess equipment. The goal of this project was to give the student body a voice by allowing them to take ownership of their daily lives as students. The project also taught Student Council members the importance of listening to their peers when making school-wide decisions.