The Future Teachers Society and the Charleston Southern University chapter of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) partnered with two Professional Development Site schools this holiday season to provide Christmas gift boxes to 100 deserving youngsters.
Three members of the Future Teachers Society at Charleston Southern – Hannah Causby, Paul Palagi and Marie Doan – help distribute shoeboxes as part of Operation Charleston Child.The initiative (coined Operation Charleston Child) replicates the international effort, Operation Christmas Child – spearheaded by Samaritan’s Purse ministry, in which millions of shoeboxes containing holiday gifts are shipped to needy children all over the world.
The future teachers at CSU were among the first in the Lowcountry to engage in this initiative. The School of Education at Charleston Southern is already in partnership with two local schools, Spann Elementary in Dorchester District Two and Ladson Elementary in Charleston County, to offer support in improving the educational experience for children.
“The Future Teachers Society at Charleston Southern was one of the original, local organizers of the enormously successful Operation Christmas Child project almost two decades ago,” said CSU’s Linda Karges-Bone. “We decided last year to focus our attention with a similar, yet more organic, project, which we call Operation Charleston Child. Teacher candidates can see the blessing to local children in the same site where they do clinical teaching, and that gives the children and our future teachers an amazing connection.”
Guidance counselors at each site prepared a list of the most deserving children, and Charleston Southern future teachers and education faculty created personalized gift boxes containing school supplies, books, small gifts, and treats to make the holiday more cheerful. The boxes were delivered to the sites by Charleston Southern faculty Linda Karges-Bone and Trudy Morris, and OCC committee members Paul Pallagi, Hannah Causby, Marie Doan, Michael Silvestri and Clair Davis.