Food drive a success

PALMER -- Colony High School delivered 50 large food baskets and more than 2,000 additional nonperishable food items to Alaska Family Resource Center Tuesday.

"We had a great response this year," said MaryAnn Osiensky, a CHS guidance counselor and advisor for Peer Helpers, the student group that organized the food drive.

Sophie Lee, one of the Peer Helpers, said the group assigned third-hour classes to specific food items. Students in one third-period biology class, for example, were asked to bring in butter. In addition to specific items, some teachers asked students in other periods to bring in any non-perishable food item. Peer Helpers offered a party, like a pizza party or an ice cream party, to the class that collected the most.

Students in one class alone, Gena Graham's sociology class, brought in 2,322 nonperishable food items.

Graham said her students chose a pizza party as their prize. She says she gave them more incentive by offering to credit each student one journal-page assignment for every five food items he or she collected. She says she never anticipated that that offer would bring in so much food.

"I told the kids, 'First of all kudos -- you guys did a great job! But, second of all, I had no idea you guys were that lazy,'" Graham laughed.

She says next year she'll up the ante.

Some of the food that students brought in was donated by families and some students collected food from friends and neighbors. In addition to the food items collected by students, Graham said CHS teachers and staff donated 50 turkeys.

"We at Colony, in general, are very blessed. This encourages [students] to be involved in their community," said Graham.