In 7th grade social studies, the students study the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Many countries in these regions are considered 3rd world countries. This project will introduce all 7th grade students to the importance of helping people in need. Students will pick a country in need, research it, find out what the needs are, what has worked before and what has failed. They will then design and implement a plan of action. Buffett 7th grade students will plan and host a World Peace Day where the community will be invited to view student projects. They also plan to work with Durham and other community groups to get the students involved. A connection will also be made to the Language Arts curriculum through the novels they read and the writing aspects of the research.

Seventh grade students are reading a historical novel along with a partner at the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home. The students and residents at the Blumkin Home have discussed the novel in person and through a shared response journal entry. The residents from the Blumkin Home had an opportunity to visit the school and learn more about what the life of today’s 7th grader is like. The students will visit the Blumkin Home, where they were interview their reading buddy and learn more about what the Blumkin Jewish Home is like. Additionally, the students will also learning more about the Jewish culture.

Students in 7th grade reading will write and create books geared towards students in pre-K and the Head Start programs in an OPS school. The Buffett 7th grade students will read their book to the young child and then present them with the book. This projects works to both improve the reading and writing skills of the Buffett students, but also provides reading materials to young students in hopes of encouraging them to become strong readers.

Students on 6A are working in class to improve their reading skills.  The students will be paired with a student, age 3-5) at Educare in North Omaha as a “book buddy.” Buffett students will select books to take to read to their book buddy once a month. After they have read the book together, the Buffett student will present the book to their buddy. This project works to improve the reading skills of the Buffett students and also provides reading materials to young children in hopes of encouraging them to become strong readers. The 6A students hosted a book drive to help provide books for students and will host “Characters for a Cause” in the spring to raise additional funds. The money raised will be used to provide additional resources to support literacy in our community.

The theme of this service learning project is animal adoption. The aim is to increase student’s decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing skills. Students will complete a daily reading and skill focus activities using leveled books focusing on our theme. A culminating project will be developed in which students create and write a short non-fiction or fiction piece utilizing the knowledge they have gained through their readings, skill focus activities, guest speakers, and site visit to a local animal shelter. They books developed will then be given to local animal shelters to utilize in their education and outreach programs. Students will be encouraged to participate in the Walk for the Animals to help raise funds for the Humane Society.

The 8th grade semester journalism students will learn how to “tell the story” by researching services offered by refugee relocation organizations in Omaha. Students will interview members from the refugee relocation services, refugees, teachers and students from the 7th grade social studies classes and participants from UNO. Students will create a newspaper to tell the stories. They will also organize a monthly marketing campaign to advertise and collect essentials for refugees who are resettling in Omaha. The project kicks off with the students providing a day of service with Lutheran Family Services helping to settle a family into a new home.

The project focus is to create appreciation among all diverse groups. Working with the Anti-Defamation League of Omaha 7th and 8th grade students will develop projects that focus on cultural awareness, including bringing in speakers, creating posters and BBTV PSAs or news segments. A project that connects to the community will also be developed. This project will connect to social studies, reading/language arts, international language and art.