ORANGE PARK \u2014\u00a0Orange Park Elementary teacher Christopher Harris uses a two-prong approach when it comes to teaching his sixth-grade math students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
On one hand,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0learning how to effectively solve equations and decipher rational numbers. But on the\u00a0other,\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0using what\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0learned to give back to those in need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the help of the ALEKS program, the opportunities are endless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0a win-win,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each year,\u00a0students\u00a0participate\u00a0in\u00a0math fundraisers, using the money to\u00a0purchase\u00a0gifts for the Salvation Army\u2019s Angel Tree initiative. ALEKS is an online learning program that Harris said matches his students\u2019 curriculum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Allowing students to strengthen or learn new\u00a0skills, as soon as\u00a0they master a level\u00a0they move to the next.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re really into math and really\u00a0self-motivated, they can also increase their skills and get advanced,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program is offered within\u00a0all\u00a0the district\u2019s sixth-through-eighth grade\u00a0math\u00a0classrooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was\u00a0Harris who\u00a0came up with\u00a0the idea\u00a0of turning\u00a0the program into not just a learning tool, but a community fundraiser. For\u00a0the last\u00a0three years,\u00a0participating\u00a0students\u00a0spend\u00a0the entire month of November doing extra\u00a0ALEKS\u00a0math problems\u00a0at home, he said. For each minute they spend working or\u00a0for every\u00a0topic they pass, the students get sponsors to donate money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the beginning of December, Harris said his class then takes a trip to\u00a0Walmart\u00a0on Blanding Boulevard,\u00a0where they\u00a0shop for\u00a0local\u00a0families\u00a0in need. Last year, the students raised just under $3,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, we have over half of the kids\u00a0participating. So,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0hoping to raise between $4,000 and $5,000.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Harris\u00a0said that for him, personally, his mother always instilled in him the importance of giving back.\u00a0The\u00a0fundraiser was\u00a0initially\u00a0something that he had previously\u00a0started as\u00a0a reading teacher 16 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then, I had an idea to have a\u00a0read-a-thon, so kids would get sponsors for reading a certain\u00a0amount\u00a0of pages or\u00a0maybe a\u00a0certain\u00a0amount\u00a0of books. And they would raise money, and then we collected that money.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At that time, he said the Angel Tree used to be located at the Orange Park Mall.\u00a0Students would arrive with a parent, pick an angel off\u00a0the\u00a0tree\u00a0and shop within the mall.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI got moved to math, and I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know why, but just\u00a0kind of fell\u00a0out of that process. And then, a few years ago, I just had an epiphany that I could easily do it with the ALEKS program.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
During this year\u2019s shopping trip on Dec. 6, Harris said students and their parents will arrive\u00a0to\u00a0the store and be given a specific angel to shop for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following their shopping spree, students will be greeted with an entire lane blocked off just for them to check out. Harris said all the gifts will be bagged up and delivered to the Salvation Army.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said that every year\u2019s needs are different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0the\u00a0lists\u00a0of clothing sizes, so\u00a0they\u2019ll\u00a0get clothes.\u00a0We\u2019ll\u00a0try to get a\u00a0kind of combination\u00a0of clothes and toys, something fun. But,\u00a0yeah,\u00a0every once in a while,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0diapers,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0underwear,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0socks. It could be hygiene products.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Harris said the fundraiser teaches\u00a0students the importance of education and giving back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0giving the kids an opportunity to do something for someone else. To realize that people live different lives. And that, there are others out there that are always in a worse position than you are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Harris said that each year,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0seen the\u00a0magnitude\u00a0of how the experience\u00a0impacts\u00a0his students.\u00a0He\u00a0knows the program is doing something positive\u00a0and\u00a0hopes to get other\u00a0classes and\u00a0schools involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more people we could help, the better. So, if we could get more people involved either here or within the county, I think that would be fantastic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE PARK \u2014\u00a0Orange Park Elementary teacher Christopher Harris uses a two-prong approach when it comes to teaching his…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":422717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,15024,15015,15023,15026,3188,15016,723,15021,7310,15020,15022,7648,15018,15017,15025,15019,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-422716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-argyle","10":"tag-clay-county","11":"tag-doctors-inlet","12":"tag-eagle-harbor","13":"tag-fl","14":"tag-fleming-island","15":"tag-florida","16":"tag-green-cove-springs","17":"tag-jacksonville","18":"tag-keystone-heights","19":"tag-lake-asbury","20":"tag-margaret","21":"tag-middleburg","22":"tag-orange-park","23":"tag-pace-island","24":"tag-penney-farms","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-united-states-of-america","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115657931883784704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}