Plum Students 'Pay it Forward'

Before the school year ended, students at two Plum schools learned what it meant to "pay it forward."

For the second year, and fifth-graders participated in "Pay it Forward" projects, in which they were encouraged to give back to their communities or people in need without asking for anything in return.

After completing their good deeds, students gave Smile cards to the recipients and encouraged them to pay it forward to someone else.

The "Pay It Forward" project was developed by guidance counselors and teachers at the schools. It mirrors a book and 2000 movie of the same name. in which the plot revolves around a student who grants favors to people and asks them to do the same.

"The project has received a great deal of positive feedback from students, parents and the recipients of the Smile cards," said Jen Belak, a Center Elementary teacher. "We’ve had such a wide range of projects this year.

"Projects have ranged from students doing yard work for an elderly relative or neighbor, to helping out at senior citizens centers, and making donations to animal shelters and food banks, toys to children’s hospital, free babysitting, and making food for families in need because an illness has overcome a family member. Many students earned money and used that money to buy supplies for their donation. Several students made their own fliers and set up boxes for donations here at school, and then they delivered the goods they collected to their recipients.

Here's a look at what some of the students did:

• A set of twins sold homemade buckeyes to earn money for Meals on Wheels, which graciously cares for their elderly grandma.
• A boy made flowers too pass out to hospice patients and families, as well as the staff who took care of his grandma before she died.
• A boy used his birthday money to buy and plant flowers at a senior citizens center where flowers had been cut from their budget. 
• A student passed out fliers for the annual Michael Crawshaw Memorial Ride. His father is a Penn Hills officer, so he wanted to commemorate the memory of the fallen officer as well as to honor his father and other police officers.

Belak said she's proud of all of the students involved.

"One of our students told us that he just wanted to do something quick and didn’t want to put a lot of effort into it, so (guidance counselor Christine) Bossung and I talked to him about really thinking about the meaning behind this and trying to come up with a good project that would mean something to him," Belak said. "He ended up volunteering with family members passing out food to homeless people, and he loved it He told us how
much he liked it and is going to continue doing this. We were thrilled!

"The project was a huge success this year, and we look forward to next year’s being even better."

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