Cooley Ranch Second Graders Bring Joy to Ronald McDonald House Patients

A pizza party, provided by John Mitchell, was in order after Dr. Eunice Moore’s second grade class from Cooley Ranch Elementary celebrated the accomplishment and completion of their class project. The project took shape after Moore, who has been teaching at Cooley Ranch for the past 19 years, called on her long time friend John Mitchell to help remedy a little meshing problem with her second grade class. Mitchell, an active member of the community who often volunteers at Cooley Ranch Elementary, has known Moore since his nephew – now 26 years old – was a student in Moore’s third/fourth grade class, and immediately agreed to help in any way he could. Mitchell and Moore wanted to get the class involved in some sort of group project that would get them to work together. Mitchell, with the idea of starting a project that would involve the whole class, gave a motivational speech to the class to help motivate them into action. “I gave them suggestions of things to do, like collecting something, writing letters to the VA Hospital, collecting pop tops. They were all pretty excited about a writing campaign, so that’s what they chose,” added Mitchell. After the speech the children elected a captain, and two lieutenants to lead the class and help select a project they wanted to participate in: Marquice, Ethan, and Christian, respectively. The class ultimately decided they wanted to write letters for children fighting illnesses at the Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda. Once the class leaders were elected and the project chosen, the students then came up with the idea of how to execute the project. “As we kept talking about it the kids were getting so excited,” said Mitchell, who shares that he knew the project would teach them to think big and reach for the stars. “One phrase I kept repeating was ‘I have the power.’ We want them to believe in themselves.” Moore explained that Mitchell’s speech helped her students stay motivated and work hard during the project. According to Moore and Mitchell the project is a creative way of implementing the curriculum of having to learn how to write a proper letter. “We want them to know how to spell properly and have correct grammar. Doctors, nurses, and adults will be reading these letters and we want to show we can write letters, so we incorporated that curriculum here,” adds Mitchell. Moore added that she only helped provide the spelling and ideas of how to best cards would be. “We’re trying to keep them compassionate,” shared Moore. That compassion didn’t stop with the second grade class, however. Mitchell added that the students also wanted to get their school, family, and friends involved in the project. News of this project spread as far as Cal State University San Bernardino. “I had aunties, uncles, and cousins writing letters as well,” said Moore. The project lasted for two weeks but the results were impressive. In those two weeks more than 300 cards and letters were collected and sent to the Ronald McDonald House. Moore and Mitchell couldn’t be more proud. “This shows them that they’re not just a second grader. I was telling them, they can do all kinds of things,” said Mitchell. “Plenty of young people have started non-profits that help other people. You can be more than what you are because you choose to be more.” [END] From: "openingdoors4u @dslextreme.com" Date: January 27, 2014 1:29:47 PM PST To: Subject: to Margie from John Mitchell Hello I hope you are well, I am working on a project with Mrs Moore a teacher from Cooley Ranch Elementary School second grade. The project the kids chose to do is a get well letter and cards campaign for the kids at the Ronald McDonald House. I thought it would be a cute little story for the paper. John Mitchell C-909-213-3262 ====================================================================================================== -NOTES, VERBATIM, THAT BREE TOOK DURING PHONE INTERVIEW WITH JOHN MITCHELL ON WEDNESDAY, JAN. 29- NOTE: The program is ongoing. I think it would be beneficial to publish a story about the program, and then as they deliver the cards and maybe get the rest of their school involved, we can publish short follow-ups, too, provided they let us know about it and send photos. John Mitchell *Good friends with Cooley Ranch Elementary School Teacher Mrs. Moore (doesn't have her first name; she's always been Mrs. Moore to him) *She was his nephew's 3rd/4th grade teacher - he is now 26. John has stayed good friends with Mrs. Moore since. * He has worked in the past as an instructional aide; he is an active community member who has long been involved with Cooley Ranch Elementary. *When Mrs. Moore told him that her class was having a hard time meshing this year, he wanted to get them involved in a group project that would get them working together. * "I gave them suggestions of things to do, like collecting something, writing letters to the VA hospital, letters to the Ronald McDonald House, collecting pop tops. They were all pretty excited about a writing campaign, so that's what they chose." * The kids chose a captain of the class and they are hoping to get the rest of their grade and school working together to create get well letters and cards to eventually send to the patients living at the Ronald McDonald House. * The class is currently working on presentations to give to the other students in hopes of getting them involved in the project. * "We're just now starting it, but this shows them that they're not just a second grader. I was telling them, they can do all kinds of things. Plenty of young people have started non-profits that help other people. You can be more than what you are because you choose to be more." * "One phrase I kept repeating was 'I have the power.' We want them to believe in themselves. * The project also dovetails with the curriculum for 2nd graders. They have to learn how to write a proper letter. * We want them to know how to spell properly and have correct grammar. Doctors and nurses and adults will be reading these letters and we want to show we can write letters, so we're incorporating that curriculum here. * "As we kept talking about it the kids were getting so excited. They want to get their brothers, sisters, cousins, neighbors and friends involved in it, too." MRS. MOORE - School phone (909) 580-5023 x 7521 CELL: (909) 213-0475 * Bree has called her four and left messages. She has yet to hear back/set up interview time.