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Grade-schooler essays raise funds for Animal Charity
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Jason Cooke, left, president of Animal Charity Humane Society, listens to Shamus Clavin , a second-grader at West Boulevard Elementary School in Boardman, as the youngster reads his winning essay at an awards ceremony. The school and Animal Charity have teamed up to help children make a difference in their community. The event was Wednesday.
By Sean Barron
BOARDMAN
If Animal Charity ever needs help with fundraising, the agency might do well to seek Ava Valko.
That’s because the West Boulevard Elementary School fourth-grader wrote an essay on the importance of raising money for the organization.
Ava also was one of the top finishers in Wednesday’s first Make a Difference Day at the school on West Boulevard.
The school partnered with Animal Charity for the one-hour gathering, which was aimed at getting youngsters to more deeply appreciate the value of volunteering and assisting in the community, noted Jason Cooke, Animal Charity’s president.
In addition, the activity was to encourage the students to be more insightful, creative and expressive, he noted.
An estimated 55 children in kindergarten through fourth grade engaged in age-appropriate activities that included drawing or coloring their favorite animals or something animal-related, writing on ways to raise funds for a cause that’s important to them and putting together an essay regarding how to raise money for that cause, Cooke said.
Each of the 19 classrooms, as well as each grade, had a top finisher, he continued.
Those who finished first in their grade received gifts such as gift cards, $25 and an Animal Charity T-shirt. In addition, Cooke said, the top entries will be shown at the agency.
Animal Charity also plans to work with Ava to make her idea a reality, Cooke noted.
The event began last year as part of an after-school program, but after consulting with Principal Al Cervello, the decision was made to include the entire school, he said.
“We did dog visits to the school, and the kids were asking a lot of questions, so I thought it would be nice to do a little contest,” Cooke added.