Giving hearts

Second graders at Triton Elementary School spent much of December collecting food items for the Food Shelf in Kasson as part of a Giving Tree unit in their social studies classes.
The students were studying economics and giving as part of the revamped social studies curriculum, said teacher Sarah Stradtmann. During the unit, she said, they learned that giving can include many things such as clothes and food.
As a real life example, the four second grade classes collected food items in December to be donated to the Food Shelf in Kasson before the Christmas break.
The teachers set a goal of 100 food items for the entire second grade, Stradtmann said, but quickly learned that number would have to be increased as 100 items were donated on the first day. A more ambitious goal of 100 items per class was then set.
When the project ended on Dec. 19, a total of 409 items had been donated.
One student from each second grade classroom was selected to go with Principal Mary Morem to the Food Shelf to deliver the food. The weigh-in at the Food Shelf showed that 623.8 pounds of food had been collected.
Students who helped deliver the food included Mackenzie Milner, Kimberly Becerril-Ortiz, Connor Schleusner and Ronan Floen.