Teaching future generations the importance of citizenship within the world around them provides them with real life skills they will hold on to.
At Saffell Street Elementary, the Global Game Changers program is doing exactly that.
The Global Game Changers Student Empowerment program is a national nonprofit organization that is project based to provide young students resources that use service learning and talent development as tools to encourage student’s social, emotional, leadership, and academic growth.
The curriculum is full of tools, engaging characters, and creative opportunities that will engage kids and make teaching and learning fun and easy.
Global Game Changers was integrated into Saffell Street Elementary this year and was adapted to meet the specific needs of SSE and the local community.
Thirteen third, fourth, and fifth grade students took part in GGC this year beginning in October they met every other week throughout the year. Each week they develop a growth of knowledge in citizenship, kindness, and what it means to be a Global Game Changer.
The overseers of this program are Family Resource Director for SSE Sarah McGaughey and school counselor Kathryn Clouse.
McGaughey and Clouse stated their main goal is to teach kids a part of this program what it means to be a good citizen and how they can use their own skills and talents to benefit their community and surroundings.
They stress to them that even being a kid they can use these skills in their home, around their neighborhood, at their school, and in their classroom.
McGaughey explained that kids are often taught about citizenship and acts of kindness, but they don’t always know how they fit into that being kids so in GGC they try to show them what acts they can do around them big or small that can make a difference.
She added within their projects they help guide them and narrow their focus when needed but they mostly let the kids take the lead.
Every community service project they did was something that was brought up or honed in on by a student in GGC.
This year they worked to make a difference and started within their school, thinking of ways they could make an effect on those around them. They decided to make a handwritten card and handmade ornament for every staff member at SSE during Christmas time to give them all the appreciation they deserve.
After serving their school they began talking about their community and what to do within it to make a difference as a group and as individuals.
Their next meeting was spent brainstorming their skills and talents, who they believe they could affect within Anderson County and how.
McGaughey explained seeing the kids’ ambitious minds think of the impossible and put so much thought into such simple projects was amazing as they thought through things like most adults wouldn’t.
“From a staff standpoint I knew that our kids were nice, and I knew that kids have big hearts and want to help people but to see the amount of thought and effort that went into their projects was amazing. It made me feel really good about our future in our community and who is going to one day be leading our community,” stated McGaughey.
Many kids wanted to help the homeless, so they made treat bags, others wanted to help animals so they made homemade dog treats, and others foster children who they made stress balls for.
In doing these projects they each made lists of things they would need including setting up a plan of actions of how to give the items to the groups.
To best deliver what they made they asked representatives from each organization/agency to come and accept the items from the students who told them what they made, why, and what they were for.
Their next project was done as a group with the goal of affecting the most people and to identify where the biggest need in the community was.
McGaughey stated the kids were eager about this project and gave many suggestions showing how much kids already knew of the needs in their community.
They ultimately decided to make blessing bags for people around the community that needed them.
They began thinking about what needed to go in them that would be realistic for people to carry and how they were going to get these items.
McGaughey and Clouse helped put together a flier to send out to families and post to social media asking for donations for the items they needed.
They received several donations, and the Family Resource Center funded the remaining amount needed, which allowed the students to see that people within their community want to help them be good citizens and fulfill their goal of doing so.
They showed through these projects they are not just a group that got together to do something nice, they had to think about what it was going to take to be an activist in their community.
They were able to make 60 bags total to be delivered to different places around the area including a local homeless shelter and to a local representative for women coming out of recovery.
The Saffell Street Elementary GGC for the 2024-24 school year included Kami Ware, Reese Dempsey, Clay Frazier, Gabby Hentz, Gabby farmer, Danaysia Malicote, Titus Downey, Anabella Hannula, Sebastian Calhoun, Mary Murphy, Charlotte Kierehoff and Kyrah Coligan.
“I think we think about kids and community service and citizenship and we teach them to be citizens but I don’t know that in the past we’ve really taught them what it takes to do community service and the planning and hard work it takes before you see the end result,” Sarah stated, “So to see our kids love the process as much as the end results was just astonishing.”