The Bargain Box of Hilton Head has been a valued and dedicated longtime supporter of the Foundation for Educational Excellence. Through their generosity, thousands of students across Beaufort County have been afforded the opportunity to participate in innovative and exciting projects that have sparked their curiosity and instilled a love of learning.
With their support funds donated by the Bargain Box contributed to these recent projects:
“Manipulating the World” at Bluffton Middle School
“Inspiration in 3D” at Robert Smalls International Academy
“Global Understanding – It’s a Small World Part 2” at Robert Smalls International Academy
“Go Fish: Exploring the Impacts of Fish on a Hydroponic Lab” at Okatie Elementary
“A CPR Feedback Manikin” at Beaufort High School
“The Science Behind Tuning a Guitar” at H.E. McCracken Middle School
The students at Robert Smalls International Academy in Beaufort (RSIA) benefitted from these grants across many grade levels having projects funded at both the middle school and the elementary school levels.
One of the projects was entitled “Global Understanding: It is a Small World-Part 2” for Peggy Dumler’s fourth and fifth grade students. This was a continuation of a project funded the previous year where a pen pal program was established between students at RSIA and students at Sophia Primary School in Kenya.
The grant allowed students from RSIA and Sofia Primary School to increase their understanding of geographical knowledge of the world, scope and depth of commonalities and differences of people, as well as enhance their reading and writing skills.
This year, the project added a Shared Literature Experience, where students from RSIA and Sophia Primary School read a small book about caring for the environment. Through this Shared Literature Experience, the students were able to establish a common understanding of how their actions impact the world in both the Lowcountry and in Africa. Students from RSIA and Sophia Primary School were able to share their understanding of their environment and the challenges, but also learn about the environmental challenges in other parts of the world.
“Inspiration in 3D” was a project submitted by Melissa Rosen, a Middle School Visual Arts teacher at Robert Smalls International Academy. The project allowed the sixth, seventh and eighth grade visual art students to create some awesome 3D art using cardboard.
“Visual Art is essential as it helps students interpret the world and express themselves in a creative and unique way,” says Rosen. “Art is an important outlet for emotion and social-emotional learning, and it fosters imagination and creativity.”
Learning how to manipulate cardboard, the students used different attachment techniques such as flanges, gussets and L-braces to adhere their pieces. The students’ art went through the “shake test” to ensure it was well put together and wouldn’t fall apart when taken home. Some students created art made only of cardboard and others created mixed media work incorporating other art media they had learned about previously. One student even made wearable art!
Through this project, the students were exposed to various aspects of creating art, sculpture, architecture and different processes from around the world.
Without the generous support of local organizations like the Bargain Box of Hilton Head, these projects would not be possible. The experiences provided and valuable lessons learned are ones that can best be portrayed to students through creative, hands-on learning. The Foundation, as well as the thousands of students across Beaufort County who have been impacted through these funds, are extremely grateful.
