Reaching out gets reward back

DARBOY - Students at Holy Angels School have learned that even the smallest good deed can have a large impact.

The lesson was the result of the school's participation in the "Do Something Kindness and Justice Challenge" this past winter, said Mary Vanden Busch, principal.

To take part, the students had to perform and document 2,000 good deeds during a two week period beginning around Dr. Martin Luther King's Jan. 15th birthday and ending in February.

On March 21, Vanden Busch learned that the school was only one of five in the United States to reach that goal and win a "Do Something Kindness and Justice Challenge Award."

Blockbuster Video, the Challenge's sponsor, will present the school with a certificate. Each student and staff member - 362 in all - will receive a certificate for a free Blockbuster video rental.

More than 236 schools nationwide participated in the Challenge, a "Do Something" spokesperson said; the principal believes Holy Angels was the only one in the diocese to take part.

Vanden Busch learned about the New York-based Challenge, which is affiliated with Dr. King's son, on the Internet.

The school's deeds were divided into three categories: global, national, and local, Vanden Busch said.

For the global, the students raised more than $2,000 and collected supplies for earthquake victims in El Salvador.

Vanden Busch said her brother, Chuck Birr who is affiliated with Human Relief Task Force out of Two Rivers, will take the money and supplies with him to Central America at the end of March.

The principal pointed out the students' ingenuity in raising funds. She said the fifth grade led that challenge with a free throw contest during a basketball tournament and a bake sale.

The third grade raised over $132 with a lemonade and popcorn sale.

The music class earned $57 with their song-grams. For a quarter, a student sang a song to someone.

For its national good deed, the school hosted the Gospel Choir from Holy Angels School in Chicago on Ash Wednesday after it had performed at Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay.

The time the two groups spent together gave the Darboy students a chance to learn about African-American culture and music, Vanden Busch said.

For local good deeds, the students helped at area soup kitchens, food pantries and nursing homes. One group worked at cleaning up at Heckrodt Nature Preserve in Menasha.

In school, the children swept floors, washed cafeteria tables, answered phones and took homework to sick classmates.

According to the principal, the students were so excited about the challenge, they did more good deeds than usual.

She noticed there was a lot less teasing between students. When any occurred, the children "called each other on it" because they wanted to win the award.

All the good deeds were recorded on hearts hung on walls in the school foyer and classrooms. The eighth grade put together an illustrated booklet about the Challenge.

Vanden Busch said the real award was the students' knowledge that "we make a difference. The enthusiasm that happened in the school was transforming. It was like our own little Pentecost."

Vanden Busch and Tim Brumm, middle school social studies teacher, will attend a "Do Something" coaches conference in Wisconsin Dells in April. They will be trained in "Do Something" curriculum.