Characters for a Cause

Andrew's school recently had "Characters for a Cause" night. If I would have known how cool it was going to be, I would have invited a lot more of you who live locally! I guess you have to experience one to understand how awesome it is!!!

The kids (150 on Andrew's team--300+ in his grade level) have worked hard at school for about 6 weeks to put this night together. They picked their favorite character from any book and spent time reviewing the book, answering questions about plot and character and came up with a costume and a collection container. They also learned how to be wax figurines and had to come up with at least three poses to 'freeze' into when they weren't speaking.

The kids lined the gymnasium in their costumes and when the wax museum opened, we could go in and see the wax figurines (students). If you wanted to learn more about the particular display, you put some change into their container and asked them a question off of the pre-printed list of about 15-20 questions. They had memorized their answers to all of the questions and would answer your question then freeze again. (Questions like: How do you relate to your character? How is your character important in the story? What is the significance of how you decorated your container?)

The money they raised went to the local Head Start/Daycare that the students have visited all year. Once a month, they go to this school and read with their pre-k buddies. At Christmas, the students decided to have a used book drive to give to the school. So many books were collected that each pre-k child that they buddy with was able to be given a book to take home. A Christmas gift from their big buddies. The rest of the books were added to the school library. It's been an incredible model of service to others and helping those who need it. They chose to donate their funds to the school so they can purchase the additional textbooks and workbooks they can't afford to get. The unconfirmed amount raised is $1002. WOW!

My favorite part of the night was seeing how much wonderful classic literature is still being read by students today. We had 5 Dorothy's, 2 Tin Men, 1 Glenda the Good Witch and 1 Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. Charlotte from Charlotte's Web was there with a couple of Nancy Drew's (my personal favorite!). I was happy that less Harry Potter showed up than I would have expected. Some of the fun ones were Nate from Nate the Great and Cat in the Hat & Thing One from The Cat in the Hat. I came away with additional books on my TBR (to be read) pile.

To help entertain the small children who came to see big brother/sister, there was a huge reading area set up in the middle of the gym. There were rockers, bean bag chairs, and books, books, books. If you didn't have a library card, the library was even there and you could register and get your library card that night.

Here's the poster Andrew created about his book. To read what he wrote, click the picture to open it in a larger format.