The 2022 graduating class of the Bachelor of Education program recently donated $600 to the Starfish Backpack program, which supports 42 local elementary, middle, and high schools with individual backpacks. The backpacks contain breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and healthy snacks for students to take home for the weekend. It was a way for these teacher candidates (now teachers) to pay it forward and make an additional contribution to their communities: “changing the world, one child at a time” according to the motto of the Starfish program.
Fundraising during a very intense year in the BEd program was challenging for the Teacher Education Student Association (TESA), which has always tried to support a local organization that in turn supports children in schools. Many fundraising options were impossible to organize due to health restrictions. But the teacher candidates persevered with several bottle drives and raffles throughout the year, which also helped build their community within the BEd program. The picture below shows members of the TESA executive (Hailey Thomson and Kourtnie Sohl) handing a cheque of $600 to a representative from Archway Community Services, which oversees the Starfish Backpack program. They were able to have a tour of the building, the food bank, and learned about how many families Archway Community Services supports daily.
For more information, contact Barbara Salingre at barbara.salingre@ufv.ca
09/10/2022