North Brunswick Kiwanis Club Helping The Kids
Contributed By The North Brunswick KiwanisClub
The Kiwanis Club of North Brunswick takes its calling from the global organization, to improve the world, one child at a time, very seriously. When the children of northern Brunswick County need some help, often identified by schools and the county-wide Communities In Schools non-profit, the club jumps into action to help. Here are two of the latest projects untaken by these amazing volunteers.
Incentives For Success
As Peter A. Cohen once said about success: “There is no one giant step that does it. It’s a lot of small steps.” The Kiwanis Club of North Brunswick (KCNB) recently received a request from Ruth Thompson, Communities in Schools (CIS) Success Coach at Leland Middle School (LMS). The role of CIS Success Coaches such as Ruth is to support student success by building relationships with them, helping students develop skills in goal setting, and helping them learn to navigate the decision-making process. The request was for KCNB to help Ruth provide extra incentives for students on her caseload.
The newest middle school in North Brunswick County, Town Creek Middle School (TCMS), does not have an assigned CIS Success Coach. However, a recent meeting of KCNB members with the principal, guidance counselor, and administrative staff revealed that school-identified students could also benefit from an “incentive” bag.
Club members jumped into action, spending several hours organizing and filling 36 “incentive” bags. Peggy Bradt (LMS School Lead), Cindy Bryant (TCMS School Lead), Eric Mens, and Ken and Melody Formalarie filled each bag with a variety of snacks, a stress ball, pencils and sharpener, lined paper, and word puzzles. An encouraging note to the student recipient was attached to each bag. TCMS students also received a fillable plastic water bottle (the school has installed Reverse Osmosis (RO) water stations with touchless refill, such as those in airports). Brunswick Family Assistance donated all of the snack items.
The bags will be delivered to Mr. Gerald Ziemba, TCMS Counselor, who will provide them to the identified students. Ruth Thompson will provide the bags to the LMS-identified students at their homes.
Calling All Guitars
By Gary Bradt, Compass Pointe
Ms. Waddell had a problem. As the music teacher at Leland Middle School (LMS), she had 65 students signed up for her guitar class. However, she had only 35 guitars. Some students owned their instrument, but most looked to the school to provide one. Waddell needed to make up the difference.
She contacted Ruth Thompson, the Success Coach with Communities in Schools (CIS), located at Leland Middle School.Ruth put the word out and the Kiwanis Club of North Brunswick answered the call.
Peggy Bradt, the Club’s member dedicated to supporting Leland Middle School, jumped into action. “We are so glad that we are able to help Mrs. Waddell,” Bradt said. “That’s why we’re here - to help kids in times of need.” The Club put out the call for guitars in the community and several residents responded.
“Each guitar came with a story,” Bradt said. “One man donated the guitar his parents gave him when he went off to college in 1969 with visions of becoming the next Bob Dylan. Others donated the guitar they bought for retirement but never learned to play. All of the donors were pleased to see instruments previously gathering dust put to use.”
Waddell added she could still use a few more guitars. “If you or someone you know has a guitar in usable condition— broken strings are not a problem— consider helping a student learn to make music,” she said. Bradt added, “It’s a great way to clean out your closet and support your community at the same time.”
For more information on how to donate please contact Peggy Bradt at peggybradt@gmail.com or (336) 541-3232 or Ruth Thompson at rthompson@cisbrunswick.org or 253-5327, ext. 1721.
For more information on Kiwanis, visit https://www.northbrunswickkiwanis.org/ or find them on Facebook at NorthBrunswickKiwanis.
