Northshore third graders collect socks for homeless
Northshore Elementary School students in Dreama Feezell’s third-grade class are helping to keep those in need warmthis winter.
“[The students] set a goal to collect 100 pairs of socks to donate to [Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries’] homeless shelter, and they met that goal,” Feezell said. They collected about 160.
"It makes me feel really good that I am doing something to help the homeless, especially in the winter," Northshore Elemen-tary third-grader Garrett Driskill said. "I don't want them to be so cold.”
“I am proud of myself. I knew I was doing something nice for someone else,” third-grader Hailey Holbrook said.
The collection was part of a month-long lesson in thankfulness designed to teach the children about doing for others.
“I think it is huge for these kids to realize, first and foremost, how fortunate they are to have the most basic items,” Feezell said. “I wanted to show them that no matter how small, the simplest gestures could make a big difference in the lives of others.”
“I felt happy to be helping people in need,” third-grader Max Spangler said.
“It felt really good to be able to do something to help the homeless,” Jordan Rockwell said. “It made me feel happy inside.”
This was the first time Feezell involved her students in such a project. She said she expects Thankful November will be an annual effort.
“It was so exciting to see the enthusiasm of the students and families,” she said. “One little girl shared the idea for the lesson with her dad, and he shared it with his boss, so even a company in Memphis contributed.”
She got the idea for the lesson from Kid President, an online personality, portrayed by Robby Novak of Tennessee, featured in a series of YouTube videos and in a TV show.
“Kid President encouraged everyone to make a difference in his or her community and to give back,” she said.
Novak, as Kid President, promoted Socktober” a campaign to collect socks for the homeless in October.
“I found out about it at the end of October,” Feezell said.
While the class missed the online campaign, she said. “We decided to make our event and call it ‘Thankful November.’
“We started on Nov. 1 and ended Nov. 18. I sent a letter home to parents and families of the students in the classroom.
“At that point we got excited,” Feezell said. “We are so fortunate to have everything we need.”
Students decorated a box, in which the socks were placed, and Feezell delivered them to KARM.
