Fox Cities News

During the week of December 2 to December 6, 2024, Franklin Elementary School participated in the annual Mid-Morning Kiwanis Food Drive. This event marked its forty-ninth year and provided Oshkosh Area School District (OASD) elementary students an opportunity to donate food items to local individuals and families in need.

Each OASD elementary school hosts its own food drive for a week between November and December. At Franklin Elementary, collection boxes were placed in each classroom for students, families, and staff to donate non-perishable food items.

The event at Franklin Elementary included a focus on mathematics. Mrs. Van Elzen, a math instructional support teacher at the school, played a key role by creating bar graphs showing the school's total donated items daily. These graphs allowed students to compare their class's progress with others.

Mrs. Van Elzen challenged students with questions like, “How many donations does your classroom have? Which class has the most donated items?” Teachers incorporated these prompts into their discussions. For instance, Mrs. Tyner’s second-grade class used donated item palates to practice multiplication concepts.

The food drive saw increasing participation throughout the week, culminating in 622 items donated on Friday alone. Staff members such as Mrs. Cooper and Mr. Cam also contributed significantly.

Additional donations were collected during Franklin Elementary's family night on December 6. By the end of the drive, 1,711 food items were collected—surpassing last year's record by 631 items.

The competition ended in a tie between Ms. Tyner’s second-grade class and Ms. Wiltzius’ kindergarten class, both of which will receive special prizes.

Mid-Morning Kiwanis sponsored a magic show for participating schools as thanks for their efforts. On December 11, Franklin students enjoyed a performance by local magician Bruce Dumann.

“The students, staff and entire Franklin school family showed so much excitement during this food drive," said Kathryn Noble, principal at Franklin Elementary.

Items collected will be weighed and donated to the Salvation Army for distribution before the holidays.