At the end of October 2014, I was invited to Staten Island to speak to the fourth grade class at P.S. 4. I gave them an overview of childhood cancer and why we need to raise funds to both serve patients better and pursue research that will lead to improved treatments and, ultimately, a cure. The class was attentive and asked a lot of great questions. Since some time has passed, we checked in with their teacher, Jennifer Mondone. Not surprisingly, the kids have been doing great things. Here’s what Jennifer had to say:

“The fourth graders of Public School 4 in Staten Island, New York have been working with Hope & Heroes since November of 2014. We teamed up with this organization to help build awareness of childhood cancer while at the same time teaching our students life lessons about empathy, teamwork, dedication, and problem solving – and that life is not always easy but perseverance and hard work can bring wonderful outcomes.

Our objective is for our students to generate awareness by creating a plan and executing it through their creativity, motivation and understanding how to be a well-rounded citizen. Our students formulated teams and each team either did research or composed inspiring and motivating speeches.  Each team had specific task and independently they composed persuasive letters and speeches to bring awareness to this wonderful organization.

Some of the logos created by the 4th graders at P.S. 4

The students surveyed the school to discover their interests. Then we had each child create logo and had a contest where the school voted and selected the winner. Finally, we sold each logo to our entire school.  At this point we have collected nearly $2,200. We are going to have a Band-Aid drive starting in March. Our students just love taking part in such a great cause.

Our P.S 4 family has shown that we are heroes too!”

We couldn’t agree more, Jennifer, and we’re excited to see what comes next!

Do you know a school that would be interested in working with Hope & Heroes? We are always willing to come and speak to groups just like the students at P.S. 4 and help initiate projects that help children with cancer and blood disorders. Get in touch with us and let’s start something today!