DMS 5th graders pay it forward

(Pictured left to right): Shawn Holzer, Edwin Mejia-Junech, Eli Sassaman, Izzy Alley, Mack McElree, Riann Oberbrockling, Sydney Thompson, Addison Maki, Mason Avila, Sam Corro, Elsa Christman, and Nora Lesmeister with the items they purchased for the family kits given to the Decorah Food Pantry.

Decorah fifth graders in Sarah Nowack's class and Alyssa Halweg's class have been able to "pay it forward" thanks to a $250 grant from Project Jack, a program started in the Quad Cities in memory of Jack Lindaman, an energetic, positive boy who died at the age of 6 from spinal muscular atrophy.

Sarah Nowack's students chose to purchase toys, games, and art supplies which they took to the University of Iowa Children's Hospital in Iowa City.  The students visited air care and talked with a pilot as well as a flight paramedic.  Students also met with pharmacy students and learned all about pharmacy and making compounds, even creating their own compounds (lip balm) to take home.  Lastly, students met with medical students who taught them how to listen to a heartbeat and how to take blood pressure, reflexes, and pulse.  

Alyssa Halweg's students chose to create kits for families that promote learning and playing together. As a class they created a list of possible items for the kits, narrowed them down, and voted for their top choices. Students created six kits to donate to the Decorah Food Pantry. The kits include markers, crayons, coloring books, puzzles, games, mega blocks, books, and magnetic alphabet letters. The students walked to the pantry to deliver their donation and learned about how the food pantry works.