Fall 2004, Volume 9 Number 3

Table of Contents

Palo Community Schools International Dinner...
by Judy Huynh

If you drove through Palo, Michigan, you might think that there was nothing much happening there. There is only one store (Joe’s Market), two churches, and the school. However, if you visited the school, you might be surprised at what’s happening. Students at Palo Community Schools, a rural K – 8 school district, are actively involved in learning about child labor, refugee issues, environmental concerns, and world hunger, and in doing something about these issues.

About five years ago, several of the teachers at Palo Community Schools wanted to educate our students about the issue of poverty and hunger in the world as part of our curriculurm. While searching the web for information, I came across the Kids Can Make a Difference web site. I was very excited to find that I could purchase a book, Finding Solutions to Hunger, containing lessons for teaching about the root causes of hunger and giving examples of how students could become actively involved in ending hunger in the world. I ordered the book, and have used it in my sixth grade classroom every year since. I love this book! I love watching my students become informed, empowered citizens ready to change the world after participating in these hunger lessons.

Once students become aware of the problem of hunger in the world, they naturally want to find a solution to the problem. The sixth graders decided to raise funds for an organization that was involved in helping to alleviate hunger; we would do it by hosting a dinner. Our first year we hosted an “Empty Bowls” soup and bread dinner, but the next year we changed it to an International Dinner, which we’ve continued to host for the last three years. We host the dinner for two reasons: to increase awareness in our community about hunger in the world, and to raise money to help fight hunger. The sixth grade students coordinate the dinner, but every classroom is involved in helping with it. Our school is heavily involved in academic service learning, and the International Dinner is our biggest service project. The money raised from the dinner is donated to Heifer International. After researching several different hunger organizations, the sixth grade students voted unanimously to support Heifer and their work to end hunger in the world through community building and sustainable agriculture.

At the International Dinner, we serve food from countries in every continent of the world (including snocones from Antarctica!). Part of the food is prepared by the different classrooms, part of it is donated by community members, and part of it comes from different ethnic restaurants – some donated and some purchased at a discounted price. This year we had food from France, Mexico, Vietnam, Thailand, Lebanon, India, Netherlands, Chile, Italy, Japan, China, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Korea, Australia, Zambia, Ireland, and the United States. We display posters done by the sixth graders that inform the people who attend the dinner about some of the organizations that work to end hunger (such as Heifer International, Kids Can Make a Difference, Oxfam, etc.) and give them some facts and statistics about hunger in our world. There is no charge for the dinner; we ask only for a donation.

In addition to the food and posters, we have a world market that sells crafts from SERRV (an organization that helps people in developing countries market their crafts at a fair price) and crafts made by the students in the different classrooms. This year the grandmother of one of my students donated a quilt for Heifer International. My sixth graders tied off the quilt, and it was raffled off at the dinner. It had a map of the world in the center, and blocks of material with animals that are donated by Heifer around the outside. It was awesome! Outside of the school, we have a display of young animals that Heifer donates, such as goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs, cows, sheep, and llamas. This is a big attraction for the kids.

Our dinner has become a very popular event in our area, attracting people from 30 to 40 miles away. Our first year we had 150 people attend, and we raised $1000. The second year we had over 300 people attend, and we raised over $1800. This year we expected to increase our numbers, but bad weather prevented that. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, and heavy rains hit our area the day of our dinner, causing flooding and many power outages. In Palo, the power went off at 1:30 that afternoon. We held the dinner anyway, and still had around 250 people attend, and we raised over $1500. Besides educating people about hunger and raising money for hunger, we find that our dinner is a great community- building event. Each year more community members join us in putting on our dinner and helping us in the fight against hunger. This year we were very excited to win an MASB (Michigan Association of School Boards) Award of Excellence for our dinner. However, the most important outcome of our dinner and the hunger studies that lead up to it each year is the empowerment of our students. They truly believe that “Kids Can Make a Difference” in the world.

                Judy Huynh is a sixth grade teacher at Palo Community Schools in Palo, MI. She focuses on world justice issues in her classroom.,  She is a member of the KIDS Advisory Board. She may be contacted at preston48@home.ionia.com.

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