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An Overland Park school transformed a community crisis into a powerful teaching moment, challenging students to help restock food banks stretched thin by recent government disruptions.
Brookridge Day School students collected 3,510 pounds of food — that's more than 15 pounds per student.
"When we started, I was like ... maybe we'll get to 1,000 pounds. 1,000 sounded like a lot to me, and then we hit 1,000 within the first few days," said Miles Holliday, HR coordinator at Brookridge Day School.
The food drive became more than just a collection effort. Teachers used the moment to help students understand why their contributions mattered and how their actions fit into addressing a larger community need.
"It's important to me ... because other families can't have food because they might be low on stock. So I like helping them and giving them more food," said Mackenzie Myers, a kindergarten student at the school.
Third-grader Rex said participating made him feel "happy in all sorts of ways."
School coordinator Hannah Krogsgaard noted the timing made the lesson especially meaningful.
"They know that it's a timely manner to donate right now," Krogsgaard said. "With the holidays coming up and everything going on with our government, I think people really feel the need to give back to those around them."
The initiative served as hands-on social and emotional learning for the students.
"I think this is a really big piece of their social and emotional development, learning how the world works," Holliday said.
All collected food went directly to a local pantry that had been running on empty.
While Mackenzie's class won the friendly school competition with the largest haul, educators say the real victory was teaching students how their efforts during moments of need can make a difference in their own community.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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