It’s never too soon to start thinking about how to make your school a better place and the new Student Council Club ambassadors are already preparing to do just that. Over 24 fifth grade students arrived at Wantagh Elementary 45 minutes before school began on a Monday morning in October before school began to create colorful flyers for their first community service project. 

Club advisors for the year are 5th grade teacher Ms. LeRoy, and 4th grade teacher Ms. All 5th grade students are welcome to attend the service-oriented club which does not have elections to become a member. Hostetter who are ready to shape the hearts and minds of these future community leaders. 

Students spent the morning brainstorming about which projects to organize during the school year. One by one, hands were raised sharing ideas of planting trees around the school yard, creating cards for firefighters, painting rocks, a pajama drive, first aid kits, and providing items for the drama club to name a few. The ideas were endless as students were hard at work thinking of ways to give back to both the school and Wantagh community at large.

The club just recently completed their first service activity where they collected and organized hundreds of non-perishable food items which will be donated to Wantagh Helping Hands for distribution to Wantagh families in need. Students gathered the week before Thanksgiving to unpack bags of items donated by students, parents, and school personnel under the direction of the school’s guidance counselor, Mrs. Furci.

When it was time to sort and shelve the goods, students were very eager to lend a helping hand. “Fava beans are my favorite!” said one student as she happily placed the cans in the pantry one by one. Students joyfully walked from the unpacked grocery bags to the pantry organizing each shelf filled with cereal, pasta, gravy, canned meats, and vegetables hoping to brighten the lives of those in need.