b'Goods forthe Greater GoodSouth Mountain Elementary School kindergartners learn by givingBY CHERYL SILVERStudents in Debbie Wright and Serena Watkinson\'s kindergarten class learn to help others by holding a "Book and a Bear" drive. L to R: Lin-coln McLeod, Samantha Colding, Wynne Basner.P urchasingapairofshoesmayinvolved. Wright and her co-teacher of eleven years,learned the importance of helping others when he seemlikeasimpleenoughtask,Serena Watkinson, created a program designed towas in Team Ws kindergarten class. Sometimes I butformanyarearesidents,theempower their young students to do good by col- think about getting a small job to make my own cost is prohibitive. lecting goods.money, he says, but its also always good to think For the working poor, payingOur motto quickly became, Little People Canabout doing things for other people without making rent takes up most, if not all, ofDo Big Things, Wright says. That is the messagemoney from it.theirearnings,saysBernadettewe want our kids to walk away with at the end of theMaxsbrother,Jacob,whosenteringseventh Murphy, executive director of the St. Joseph Socialyear and carry with them as they grow. grade in the fall, agrees. It feels good knowing that Service Center, a sister agency to the Elizabeth Co- Wright and Watkinson, a.k.a. Team W, start offyou are helping other people by giving them things alition to House the Homeless in Elizabeth. So ac- the year by encouraging students to Trick-or-Treatthey need.cess to housing advocacy, food, medicine, and cloth- forUnicef.DuringtheThanksgivingseason,theIn 2015, Aasha Patel, now 10, participated in ing from agencies like St. Josephs and the Coalitionstudents collect food for an organization called FeedTeam Ws shoe drive as a kindergartner. She says is critical. 2000. Team W runs the shoe drive for the Elizabethwhen she learned that many people cannot afford When South Mountain Elementary School kin- Coalition in the early spring, and in June studentsto buy simple things, like shoes or books, she de-dergarten teacher Debbie Wright first learned aboutcollect books and gently-used stuffed animals to do- cided she wanted to spend less money on stuff I the Elizabeth Coalitions dire need for shoes throughnate to a school in Newark.dont need and make more of an effort to volunteer a church contact seven years ago, she decided to getRisingfourth-graderMaxSchaefersaysheto help those people.30/ matters magazine / school 2019'