Rawsonville Elementary students compete with ideas on helping others

A fourth-grade class at Rawsonville Elementary School, doing virtual learning, wrote persuasive essays where they were asked to convince the class to vote for their favorite social cause.
Fourth-grade teacher Kristina Brashear said each student chose a cause they felt personally connected to and had to figure out a way to help during the pandemic.
Once a proposal was chosen by the writer’s peers, the whole class would all pitch in to help.
“Our class voted for the essay that wanted to help lift the spirits of children with cancer in the hospital,” Brashear said. “Her idea was to give crowns to the boys and girls so they would feel like kings and queens while they fought their challenging diseases.”
The winning essay was written by Jenifer Ibarra-Reyes, age 9. The second-place essay, aimed at helping the elderly, was written by Nathan Tsiloulou, age 9.
The class then began the process of gathering donations to purchase paper crowns, stick-on jewels and gems, ring pops, and chocolate gold coins. These “royal gift boxes” will be sent to those afflicted with childhood cancer at a local hospital, Brashear said.