FROM STAFF REPORTS

ALABASTER – Thompson Intermediate School gifted education students are collaborating with Thompson High School engineering teacher Brian Copes from the for a service learning project this year. The service project is centered on assisting the Alabaster City Schools team of students, teachers and administrators who will be traveling to Honduras this summer.

During the service project kickoff, Copes talked to the fourth- and fifth-grade gifted education students about living conditions in Honduras and the plans his team will undertake, such as providing safe drinking water and refurbishing old computers for the students to use.

“We want to create a global classroom where we can learn from each other,” Copes said.

After hearing about the situation in Honduras, TIS students were eager to help. Students quickly began working on morning announcements, creating posters and decorating boxes to collect used shoes to assist with funding the trip. Here are some of the quotes from TIS fourth- grade GRC Students.

“It kind of makes me realize how lucky we are to have what we have here,” said fourth-grade gifted student Katelyn.

The student body at TIS has already filled one large bin of gently used shoes and hopes to collect several more. As a follow-up to their collection efforts, the GRC students participated in a 1950s-style sock hop where they dressed in ‘50s attire and danced to music typical of a sock hop.

Students brought in a new pair of shoes to go directly to the children in the sister schools in Honduras as their admission ticket. Students and teachers had great time dancing to the hand jive and twisting the day away. For more information about the Sister Schools Project, visit Acssisterschools.wix.com/sisterschools.