On Friday, November 21, Collegiate Academy (CA) students visited charities across DFW and schools in GCISD as well as sent heartfelt notes to cancer patients as part of a day-long “Kick’in It With Kindness” project.
Led by CA seniors Gomana Wasef, Reagan Meyer and Zoe Saljoughi, the project brings back a tradition that the school had prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The idea originated with Principal Lauren Jackson who wanted to provide students who were consistently giving back to their local communities and churches an opportunity to have a wider reach.
“I was just telling Ms. Jackson about things that I did in the summer through my church to give back,” Wasef stated. “Ms. Jackson told me how proud she was of me and shared that Collegiate Academy had a Kick’in with Kindness in 2020 and asked if I could lead it and that I would be carrying a legacy.”
Wasef partnered with Meyer and Saljoughi who began to plan.
“They led this project and they had a vision to give locally, globally and within our community,” Jackson emphasized. “They took the time to develop a plan, went to different classes to promote this, called organizations and adjusted their planning when they didn’t have many students signed up. They re-strategized and never gave up.”
She added that along the way, the students were using skills they had learned in school: writing to craft the promotions, communication to contact organizations, and presentation skills to confidently pitch their idea.
“It’s taught me what goes into planning an event like this,” Meyer remarked. “I could take that with me to college and do something like that there.”
Sixty CA students signed up to participate at different local charities and schools throughout the day where they helped with a number of activities, from packing and sorting clothes to cleaning storage rooms to putting library books back on shelves.
At Grapevine Middle School, they also participated in the staff/student volleyball game. “The principal there just didn’t want us to volunteer, but also be seen,” Wasef said.
For their visit to Cross Timbers Middle School, the campus wanted them to volunteer as judges at the school’s spelling bee.
The trio also secured a donation from a Collegiate Academy parent who contributed landscaping materials to beautify the front area at Silver Lake Elementary School.
Students who remained at the school also participated by writing letters of support to cancer patients in their English language arts classes.
“For me, it’s really fueled that passion of helping people,” Saljoughi said. “It’s taught me so much about what goes into planning to serve your community. But even more than that, it’s taught me about the gratitude and fulfillment that you feel when you really help other people.”
Jackson added that there was one more important lesson learned.
“Gomana, Reagan, Zoe and I have talked about what three people can do to make a difference,” she said. “Being able to comprehend that is so powerful and I hope it stays with them for the rest of their lives.”