Latest news with #CrayonstoClassrooms
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Students learn to make a difference through local nonprofits
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — High school juniors from the Miami Valley are learning how to make a difference in the community. On Friday, students visited multiple non-profits to see opportunities to give and volunteer. 2 NEWS is sharing the lessons they're taking away. Dayton Metro Library's full Black History Month program list 'My community has done so much for me. I just want to give back,' said Harman Kaur, Dayton Regional STEM School Junior. With each box of school supplies put on shelves, these students are giving back to nonprofit Crayons to Classrooms. 'We're really excited to have this group here today. They've been a lot of fun and they've done a lot of good work to help us serve the teachers for next week,' said Amy Kopp, Crayons to Classrooms director of development. This is part of Making a Difference in Your Community Day, for high school juniors in the Junior Leadership Dayton Program. It's hosted by the Dayton Foundation and the YMCA. One Friday per month, the students get out of class to learn about what it means to serve their community. 'I think it really opens their eyes to what Dayton has to offer as a community. And I think it really helps them grow in their leadership,' said Taylor Walker, YMCA teen development director. 'And I think by the end of it, they're doing it because of the greater cause and not just because it's a resume booster.' After Crayons to Classrooms, the group visited the Dayton Dream Center, and Kids in New Directions. At the end of the day, program leaders hope these students realize they can make a difference. 'Just as the Dayton Foundation says, we want to help you help others. And I want the students to be able to understand that they can have that within themselves, that they can go on and help others,' said Karen Gruenberg, the Dayton Foundation. And students say it's been an opportunity to make new friends and give back. 'If you really want to do something, you would go out of your way to do it,' said Kaur. 'Even though you aren't getting paid, you aren't required to do it.' Through this initiative, the students got the chance to be philanthropists. With the help of the Dayton Foundation, the students picked one of the nonprofits they visited Friday to donate to. To learn more about the Dayton Foundation and how they help you help others, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Local organization helping students with ‘Sew Your Heart Out' project
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Crayons to Classrooms is hoping to sew back into students, one heart at a time. Valentine's Day is less than ten days away and one local organization is spreading the love. Crayons to Classrooms are distributing pocket hugs, pieces of stuffed fabric used by students to calm themselves or to provide sensory input to help them focus. 'They're soft and plush. They don't make any noise, so they're not a distraction and they come in all different shapes,' says Malena Ball, marketing coordinator at Crayons to Classrooms. The pocket hugs can be hand-sewn, crocheted or made by a machine. Crayons to Classrooms has instructions on how to make the pocket hugs on their website. Once someone makes one, they can send them to C2C. The initiative is called 'Sew Your Heart Out,' which will be happening throughout the month of February. Rachel Miller is an intervention specialist for the Springfield City Schools District. Miller says that most of the students she works with have fine motor needs. 'I have a lot of students who have muscle needs and things. That fine motor is a big issue,' Miller says. 'But nine times out of ten, my kids see pocket hugs that other people have and they want those ones because they have the fun little characters on them or they're a different material or shape.' 'When you donate these pocket hugs, you are putting a product into the hand of the student that is going to get to enjoy that and utilize that to grow and enhance their classroom experience,' Miller says. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
