Central Ohio Today

The Shawnee Elementary Brave Leaders continue to identify opportunities to positively impact their classrooms, school, and community. Recently, students collected over 300 pairs of gently used shoes to donate to the Springfield and Clark County community.

The Brave Leaders, in partnership with the Springfield Salvation Army, organized a gently used Shoe Drive at Shawnee Elementary. Donation bins were placed in grade level pods and shoes were collected from January 30 through February 2, 2023.

The idea surfaced at the beginning of the school year when students brainstormed ways to help families in the Clark County Community.

“To have over 300 pairs of shoes donated is pretty amazing,” said Shawnee Elementary Campus Principal, Kyle Phelps. “There is power in numbers! Our school can accomplish a lot and we cannot wait to see what the Brave Leaders and Shawnee Elementary community can do next for Springfield Township and the city of Springfield.”

Following the Shoe Drive, students scrubbed, organized, and sorted all donated shoes before taking them to the Salvation Army for distribution to the Springfield community.

Students wanted to donate gently used shoes that were “cleaned up” and felt “new”, explained Phelps. “The gently used shoes now have a new purpose and a little elbow grease can go a long way.”

The Shoe Drive was the Brave Leaders’ third service project for the year. The Brave Leaders Club is a group of 40 sixth-grade students who are leaders, “setting the standard for what it means to be a Shawnee Brave,” said Shawnee Elementary Campus Principal Kyle Phelps.

Their goal is to find ways to help the school and local community groups through acts of kindness and service. The club meets once a month to plan additional meetings to carry out activities and implement their ideas as needed. As a group, they identified local needs and how to best meet those needs throughout the school year.

“We are looking forward to continuing to partner with different organizations and groups around the area,” said Phelps. “We want to give back to our community and serve our neighbors.” 

Original source can be found here.