Service Learning / Putting "U" in the USO

Putting "U" in the USO

Group photo of the class and soldiers

Jack Campbell, Anna Kim, Kennedy Kerber,
and Parker Green sorting toiletries

Job role play: Adrienne Salemme, Jackson
Payne, Junpei Ishii, and Katie Brown getting supplies

Sammy Heathcote interviewing a soldier

Performing in the mess hall: Kennedy
Kerber, Zander Gentry, Kylie Dunbar, Katie
Brown, Lily Dozier, Jackson Payne, Shemar
Douglas, Sydney Wilson, Liza Doughty,
Parker Green

Job role play: Katie Brown and Ethan Hester giving out soft drinks

Parkside Elementary, Sandy Watts' 3rd Grade Class

Putting U in the USO will serve to help inform and recruit the public for service at the USO. The goal is to help to reduce the shortage of volunteers at the USO and create more public awareness. When there is a shortage of volunteers, the USO has to close its facilities to soldiers.

Sammy Heathcote, Liza Doughty, Adrienne
Salemme, Andrew Klinker, Rishabh Kulkarni,
and Maria Najera with Smile for the USA
dental collection jugs

Students plan to create a power point, books, and a flier to promote the United Service Organization located at Camp Atterbury. They will make appearances throughout the community to expose the needs of the USO. To prepare their work, students will make several visits to Camp Atterbury to interview soldiers and also the USO volunteers and staff. Students will also role play the different jobs USO staff and volunteers fulfill each day.

Project News/Notes:

October 2010: Students are beginning to practice songs for their presentation at Camp Atterbury in December. Students are planning school-wide collections of toiletry items for the soldiers.
November 2010: Students continue to practice songs for the December visit to Camp Atterbury
December 14, 2010: Students visit Camp Atterbury to entertain the soldiers with Christmas Carols. Students were introduced to soldiers and USO staff and volunteers.
January 2011: Students have collected over 500 toiletry items for the soldiers!
February 2011: Students are beginning a "Smile for the USA" campaign throughout the school to collect dental items for soldiers they met in December while caroling. These soldiers are now deployed to Afghanistan and are in need of dental items. The class receives emails from the soldiers.
February 8, 2011: Students visit Camp Atterbury to interview soldiers. Students also role play different tasks of USO volunteers/staff. The students are delivering Valentines created by students across Parkside Elementary. Along with the valentines, good luck charms created by the class and 600 toiletries will be delivered!
March, 2011: Students collected 1, 088 items in February for the "Smile for the USA" campaign! The collection continues in March. Students are beginning work on designing the educational book about the USO. Students are beginning work on creating powerpoints for community presentations.
March 2, 2011: Camp Atterbury soldiers will be reading to all classrooms at Parkside from 2:00 - 2:30. Mrs. Watts' classroom will welcome the soldiers and then will escort them to classrooms.
April 15, 2011: Students will be presenting their work to Ivy Tech
April 18, 2011: Students will be presenting their work to IUPUC classrooms
April 19, 2011: Students will be presenting their work to IUPUC classrooms
April 21, 2011: Students will be presenting their work at the Bartholomew Co. Public Library
May 26, 2011: Celebration at Camp Atterbury 10:30 - 2:00 pm