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The Elisabeth Morrow School

Englewood, New Jersey

Principal: Jed Silverstein
Advisor: Erin Hennessy
Student Council Officers: 24

Projects

“8th Grade Class Gift Fundraising”

The goal of this project is to engage our 8th grade students in raising funds that go toward a class gift of their choosing .Our class gift committee, made up of our co-presidents, treasurer, secretary, planned a meeting for the entire 8th grade class to discuss the class gift. They also asked for proposed ideas ahead of this meeting so that they could create an agenda and budget time for discussion of each idea. During this meeting, students pitched their ideas and then everyone voted on their top 3 choices for a class gift. To raise funds we will sell snacks at basketball games, plan a bake sale, run a social media takeover where we ask for gifts, and conduct a penny wars.   

“Founder’s Day Carnival Service Project”

The Founder’s Day Carnival is a decades old tradition. The carnival is intended to facilitate fun and community time, as well as deliver on the school’s commitment to community engagement and ethical leadership. Our middle school students work in their advisory groups to plan and build carnival games. On Founder’s Day, they enjoy the games and host the primary school students for the afternoon. As their entrance ticket to the Carnival, we ask students to participate in an act of service that benefits children in some way and partners with a local organization. After reaching out to several local non-profits, we set a goal this year to create arts & crafts activity kits for patients at the local children’s hospital.

“Student Faculty Basketball Game”

Our spirit committee took student feedback from the past couple of years and set a goal of bringing back an old tradition and planning a student faculty basketball game. We had a 5th grader sing the national anthem, the 7th grade committee chairs plan a halftime show, and almost 20 students in a class of 36 volunteer to play. We held the game during the last period of the day on the Friday that begins spring break.

“DEIB Assembly Presentations”

Our DEIB committee works to celebrate the rich diversity within our community and promote a feeling of belonging for everyone. Each month, they present at morning assembly about holidays, heritage months, and other observations. For example, in February and March this year, the group organized presentations for Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, Ramadan, Women’s History Month, Mardi Gras, Purim, and Irish American Heritage Month. The co-chairs are responsible for planning presentations, and they often present, but all students are invited to participate, and many do! These presentations foster pride, cultural understanding and dialogue within the community.