Sampson G. Smith Students Collect 2,200 Pounds of Food for Food Bank

Franklin Township High School seniors Eva Michaylin (left) and Travis Schwarz sort through donated food Nov. 19 at Sampson G. Smith School.

Students at Sampson G. Smith Intermediate School, Somerset, collected more than 2,000 pounds of food for the Franklin Township Food Bank for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The food was delivered to the food bank on Nov. 19, after the total poundage from each class was tallied.

Teacher’s aide Maddy Michaylin said the school collected 2,214 pounds of food.

“You could say we had a ton of fun,” she said in a text message after the food was delivered.

Michaylin led the group of planners for this year’s event, which included fellow instructional aide Lisa Rygiel, teacher Katie Van Why and guidance counselor Denise Krok.

Each class was given a large construction paper “turkey feather,” on which was written the teacher’s name and a line for the total weight of food the class collected. The “feathers” will be placed on a bulletin board in the school, Krok said.

The students were called by hallway to the school’s lobby, where Michaylin and a group of volunteers – including students from Franklin Township High School – waited to check the food’s expiration dates and tally its weight.

Once that was done, the food was placed in large cardboard boxes in preparation for the short trip to the food bank warehouse.

Michaylin said she picked up the slack after the departure of a former teacher who coordinated the collection in prior years.

“When the teacher left, she was worried that no one would carry through,” Michaylin said. “I said I’d do it.”

The collection and tabulation was also used as a teaching moment, Michaylin said.

“We’re incorporating math concepts” doing tasks such as converting ounces to pounds, she said.

Michaylin said next year she hoped to double the amount of food donated.
 

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