Club Hope Members Help Children in Kenya!!

For the last 2 years, the members of Club Hope have helped the children of Kenya through our involvement with the O Ambassadors Club. O Ambassadors works with Free the Children and we recently received an update from our contact, Scott Butler. If you would like to see what our fundraising has done to help the children of Kenya, copy and paste the following link - it takes a few minutes to load, but well worth the wait. Merry Christmas to all!!

http://videos2.freethechildren.com/watch/prairievaleelementary/

Club Hope Members at OKC City Rescue Mission

Today, several Club Hope members and family members ( Aly and her dad, Katie and her mom and brother, Lexi, Ryan, Austin and his mom, Cole, and Mrs. Martin) helped take our collection of children's hats, gloves, coats, and clothing to the City Rescue Mission. We were given a wonderful tour of the facility by Rhonda and Scott Stevenson, former Deer Creek parents, who now work with the residents of the City Rescue Mission. Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson explained how the facility helps people figure out how to make the most of their lives and the programs that the Mission supports. We learned that "choices", good and bad, determine the course of one's life. At Club Hope, we try to make the world better, "one day at a time", by making good choices every day. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson for a great tour!!

Club Hope Members at City Rescue Mission, more pictures

More pictures at the Rescue Mission and our group lunch at McDonalds. What happened at the kids' table, stayed at the kids' table (except the adults did learn about Cole's special trick!). Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Cards for Service Members and Veterans

When we started "Holiday Mail for Heroes", we all spent a few minutes and closed our eyes and tried to imagine being a young man or woman away from home, in harm's way in another country during the holidays. We also thought about some of our older veterans at home or in hospitals and how they must feel. We are all so grateful for the sacrifices our service members have made and are making to make sure that people all around the world have the opportunity to live in freedom. Today, 82 wonderful cards to service members and veterans were mailed out. The thoughts and wishes were from the heart and expressed gratitude and promises of prayers during the holiday season. If you are reading this, join the Club Hope members in taking a few minutes to offer good thoughts or prayers for our service members and veterans during this holiday season. Thanks!

Club Hope Christmas Project, Part 2

Holiday Mail for Heroes

We welcome Holiday Cards from any students at Prairie Vale.

DO: -- make your card colorful and joyful -- sign your first name, grade, and school name (and Edmond, Oklahoma) on all cards -- address your card "Dear Service Member" or "Dear Veteran" -- share that you appreciate the sacrifice service members are making at holiday time (they are away from home, putting themselves in harm's way) --
if you are going to include the service member in your prayers, please tell them that :) -- share what you and your family are doing this Christmas and wish him/her a peaceful and safe holiday season.

DON'T -- send letters --include information such as last name or home or email address -- use glitter --

Please have all cards to Mrs. Schwiebert by this Friday, December 4th.

THANKS!!

Club Hope's Christmas Project

Club Hope at Prairie Vale's first project this year is "Holiday Mail for Heroes" sponsored by the American Red Cross. "Holiday Mail for Heroes" is an opportunity to share joy and thanks with our service members throughout the holiday season by way of a greeting card. To find out more about this program, go to -
http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail . All cards must be completed and turned in by Friday, December 4th.

Club Hope Members 2009 - 2010

Welcome to Club Hope - Alyssa, Miranda, Colton, Josh, Jared, Nellie, Lexi, Camryn, Alex, Cole, Hannah, Austin, Karim, Mason, Jordan, Aly, Hallie, Cassady, and Dakota.

Club Hope Members 2009-2010

Welcome to Club Hope - Ryan, Ashley, Alex, Sierra, Kacee, Whitney, Jade, Bailey, Katie, Kennady, and Abby.

More Pictures and Thoughts from Prairie Vale 5th Graders!

Prairie Vale 5th graders have BIG hearts. Students were asked to draw a picture or write me a letter about why they wanted to join Club Hope. I've included 2 more pictures (thanks, Hannah and Cole). The students wrote, "I would like to join..." -

" To make a difference in the world".

"Being nice to other people and raising money for other people will help me become a better person."

"I want to make new friends with other kind people."

"I want to make a difference and I promise I will keep my grades up and I will make Deer Creek and myself proud."

"I would like to learn to be an even better person. I would like to be able to give back to the community."

"I love helping other people."

"I would love to he a Club Hope member!"

" I want to join Club Hope so I can help the Earth and the people on it. I will do my best to be a role model for not only my school, but for all people."

"I want to make the world a better place by doing anything I can to help."

We are going to have a great year!

Thirty-four students join Club Hope at Prairie Vale!

Thirty-four wonderful, caring 5th graders applied to be members of Club Hope. We will meet on Monday to learn more about what our club will do this year and find out what our members are interested in doing. (Thanks, Hallie, for the beautiful picture!)

CLUB HOPE at Prairie Vale in 2009-2010

Club Hope at Prairie Vale in 2009-2010 will start meeting after the fifth graders come back from Camp Classen. Stay tuned for more information...

Summer Greetings!

Happy Summer!! Hope you are all having a wonderful summer, full of family time, rest, and fun. After school was out this year, we received a note from Jonah Kanter, our O Ambassadors contact person. You will see it above. For all the Club HOPE members going into and in Middle School - remember - you CAN make the world better, one day at a time. The writing is small on the right side of the note, but it says that "as a special tribute to the passion and dedication you have demonstrated this year, ... a seedling will be planted in a developing region overseas in honor of your club." So, on the other side of the world, we have changed the physical landscape AND affected (for the good!! - through the things our donations have provided for them - medicine, books, etc.)the lives of children we will probably never meet. I am so proud of you all. As Jonah reminds us in his note, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I miss you all, please keep in touch. Love, Mrs. Schwiebert

Club Hope/O Ambassadors Raised $1800.00 in 2008-2009 for children in Kenya!!!

The grand total of money raised by Club Hope/ O Ambassadors members, for the children of Kenya, is $1800.00!!!! Club members worked so hard and put their hearts into making the world a better place for the children of Kenya.

Club Hope's "Super-Heroes Project"

With only 6 weeks of school left, Club Hope members are working hard to 'make the world better, one day at a time'. At our meeting today, the majority of members decided to join the Super-Heroes Project challenge!!! On every school day from April 15th til May 20th, club members will make conscious decisions to do one good thing for themselves, their families, and Prairie Vale. Our goal is to create so much goodness that it is noticeable. Stay tuned........

O Ambassadors Scrap Book is Done!!

One of the great activities that we have been involved in is "Girls World" through our O Ambassadors' affiliation. Last week several (Camryn, Sierra, Makenzie, Taylor, Emily, Tyler, Matthew, Katy Marie, Shelby B., Taylor, Greer, Gabby, Caroline, Shelby W., Hallie, Paige, Kayla, Sean, and Niklas)club members gave up many recesses and Study Skills time to work on a scrapbook that we are sending to our friends in Kenya. The scrap book is 12 pages long, but the pictures posted represent the first 2 and the last 2 pages. Some of the other pages answered questions about some of our favorite things. We surveyed all 115 fifth graders to find the answers. Here are some of the results:
The FIVE values which are most important to us - FAMILY, FRIENDS, HEALTH, EDUCATION, and FUN. The THREE sports or games we like the most - BASEBALL, BASKETBALL, and FOOTBALL. We are happiest when - we are with family and friends, we are at church, when we do something good for ourselves or others. What we like best about our school - the teachers, the kids, recess!!!, friends, how clean and nice it is, the fun, how we help other people, Club Hope. The 3 biggest holidays and celebrations -
Christmas, 4th of July, Birthdays. We also attached pictures of fashion trends at Prairie Vale. It was a great experience and we are eagerly looking forward to receiving our scrapbook from our friends in Kenya.

Our Girls World Friends from Kenya!!!

A few months ago, a group of Club Hope / O Ambassadors members worked on a Profile Exchange and put together a packet of information and pictures. We sent it to a group of girls in Kenya. Here are pictures of our new friends. We are currently working on a 12 page scrapbook to tell our friends more about life here in Edmond, Oklahoma. We will be conducting surveys over the next few days about the kinds of things that are important to us. Stay tuned!!

How Do You Have a $1200.00 Bake Sale!?!?!?!?!?!?

How do you have a $1200.00 Bake Sale??? Well first, you take 50 hard-working Club Hope members who baked and put together some of the BEST BAKE SALE food ever!!! Then you take lots and lots of loving moms, dads, and grandparents who bought the ingredients and helped with the making and baking (I know that Ms. Crossley has accused us of running some sort of Ponzi scheme - with having you buy the ingredients, make the baked goods, then pay money to buy them back - but it is all for a good cause!!). Then you take a supportive school environment where EVERYONE showed up with money. Finish that off with EXCELLENT selling skills by all salespersons involved!! We actually made $650.00 on the Bake Sale (thank you to our front office discussion group for suggesting that the coins be taken to the bank to be counted, they did it in about 60 seconds and the total was $106.00!!). Top that off with some amazing people who donated and offered to match our efforts. Special thanks go out to Oklahoma Gold Gymnastics, The Litz Corporation, the Frimberger Family (THANK YOU Carley, Cassidy, and Niklas for getting those donations!!), and one very generous anonymous patron who all together gave us $550.00. A big thank you to Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Rochford, who made announcements for us and helped with the money. All the money will be sent to our O Ambassadors partner in Kenya - "Kids Can Free the Children". Congratulations Club Hope/ O Ambassadors members - you were awesome today!!!

More Bake Sale Pictures!!

We are selling!!! We couldn't have done so well without the help of Ms. Maddie Green, our UCO Observation student, who joined us all morning - thanks, Maddie!!

More Bake Sale pictures!!

Who is that cheesy looking customer? (Oops, sorry, Mr. Souter, didn't recognize you right away!!). We set up and started selling!!!

Pictures From our Bake Sale on Friday, April 3, 2009

Okay it all starts with GREAT Bake Sale donations. Club members had some great ideas and some of the most unusual items were the first to sell out. Club Hope members did an awesome job this year with our doggy treats table. Five different club members researched healthy dog treats and my dog, Sadie, will attest that they were all delicious!!!!

Who are the Club Hope kids????

Who are the Club Hope kids? Why do they join a club where all the work they do profits someone else? On Friday, we had indoor recess because of the cold weather. I had recess duty and as I walked into 2 of the classrooms I was met with green Club Hope t-shirts and smiling faces. The smiling faces tell the story - these are amazing kids who really DO want to make the world better. Most of the club members had gone out on Thursday to talk with the kids in the other grades. They talked about our project, "Hearts for Africa" and they told the other students about our upcoming Bake Sale. Cassidy and Niklas spoke at Antler Alert to remind the students about our projects. Take another look at the smiling faces in these pictures - these are Club Hope kids!

Bake Sale Coming, Friday, April 3rd!!!

Club Hope at Prairie Vale / O Ambassadors will be
having a GIANT Bake Sale on Friday, April 3rd. We will be open for business before and after school AND after Antler Alert. ALL proceeds will go to the O Ambassadors programs in Kenya.

"Hearts for Africa" Project Starts This Week!!

This week, Club Hope at Prairie Vale members will visit the younger grades to talk to them about why we are fundraising at Prairie Vale. We have been learning about the living conditions for children in Kenya, and we know we can make a difference.

"Hearts for Africa" is a way for every family at Prairie Vale to show that they truly do have compassionate hearts. For the small price of $1 - you and your family can decorate the spring heart in the picture, sign your family's name and send it back to school. At PV, we will have a whole wall of these hearts to show that, as a school, we do have "Hearts for Africa.

"Keep On Being the Change"!!!

We received a lovely note today from our O Ambassadors' contact person at "Free the Children". Jonah Kanter thanked us for our donation from our "Hours for Africa" Project and he tells us to "Keep on Being the Change"!!

"Hours for Africa" Project Grand Total = $458.50 !!!

Clup Hope / O Ambassadors members earned $458.50 for our friends in Kenya!! Tyler, Aaron, James, Paige, Ahvonnah, Taylor, and Carley recently turned in their donations. Some of the things they did to earn their money were: cleaning house for mom; working outside with dad; helping move bricks; and walking dogs. Club members did a great job of giving of their time. We are now in the process of learning more about the living conditions in Kenya and we will be putting together our presentations for when we get back from Spring Break.

Hours for Africa, Part 2

THANK YOU., Club HOPE members for the "Hours for Africa" Project. The club members pictured = Niklas, Sean, Alex, Matthew, Hallie, Christian, Katy Marie, Jaida, Ryan, Harrah, Taylor, Kelsie, Sierra, Rachel, Zoe, Emily, and Katie all turned in their checks this week. Some of the things they did to earn money for our friends in Kenya were: helping mom with her garden, helping dad with logs, cleaning up around the house, mopping floors, unloading dishwashers, cleaning up grandpa's garage, mowing lawns, walking dogs, babysitting, folding laundry, giving a backrub (I liked the sound of that one!), shoveling snow, cooking, and washing the car. We will have the grand total raised for "Hours for Africa" next week when we get all our money in and totaled. Club HOPE at Prairie Vale members are making the world better!!

Hours for Africa Project

THANK YOU Lindsey, Greer, Camryn, Megan, Makenzie, Cassidy, Maddy, Jackson, and Heidi. These club members raised over $107.00 doing chores for our "Hours for Africa" project. Club members walked a dog, took care of a house while the people were on vacation, watched a five-year-old, scraped ice, gave a pedicure, cleaned, helped a mom when she was sick, babysat, chopped wood, and watched dogs. Our "Hours for Africa" project will continue through February.

"Hours for Africa" Project

Club Hope at Prairie Vale members are starting their "Hours for Africa" project for the next few weeks. All members will be talking to family members and friends to hire themselves out for $5.00 an hour and asking that they get paid with checks made out to "Kids Can Free the Children", the part of the O Ambassadors program that uses our donations to help children around the world. We have requested that our donations go to children in Kenya and we have learned that last year, our donations went to the village of Oloosiyou, located near the Masai reserve (look at the Dec. 14th post for more information about how our donations are being used in Oloosiyou). This project allows our members to demonstrate that we are aware of the blessings in our lives - living in the United States of America, having food and water available to us everyday, and the wonderfully empowering gift of an education. Our "Hours for Africa" project is a statement that we want to help make the world a better place, especially for the children in Kenya.