Highland Elementary School K-Kids club raises $414.60 donation for the Campus at Greenhill Wallingford Fireworks Fund

As they did in 2011, the Highland Elementary School K-Kids club, made up of Kindergarteners, first and second graders, held a popsicle fundraiser before the end of the school year and made a donation to the Wallingford Fireworks Fund.

With this $414.60 donation that will be applied to the 2013 Fund collection efforts, the total amount raised by the Highland Elementary School K-Kids club over the past two years is $944.80.

School Principal Victoria Reed indicated in a letter to the Fund that this would be an annual fundraiser for the club from their desire to help out with something civic and having to do with local community service.

The Kiwanis Club sponsored K-Kids is a service organization for elementary students worldwide for grades 1 through 5.

Highland is a K-2 school and has a group of about 60 first and second graders that meet once a month under the supervision of Principal Victoria Reed and several of the school’s teachers.

My personal thanks for their consideration and my sentiment of their efforts continues from my thoughts last year when they honored us with their donation.

In the day and age of “kids today are spoiled” commentary on the whole (without considering the individual) we see an entire group of students learning the true meaning of teamwork, responsibility and civic minded efforts that give back to the community as a whole.

What a wonderful example they set for their peers and at such an early age; one could only hope that it flourishes and grows rather than fades away over time. I hope they inspire their friends in other Wallingford schools to lead, as well.

Not follow – lead. We have plenty of followers; we need more leaders.

Duty and responsibility are a part of life and that is something these kids are already learning.

Perhaps a little of this might rub off on some the adults in the community that have gotten hard skinned over the years about engaging as part of the community. One could always hope. I would be satisfied enough if this next generation simply goes on setting its example without being tainted by the prior one.

So to the classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024: I tip my hat to you – you’re off to a great start. Show us all up and become the citizens we all should be; continue to make us proud. Someday, when you’re grown up and are asked “how did you ever become so civic minded and such a diverse leader?” you can respond, “I grew up in Wallingford, Connecticut, where I learned from great examples and had some of the best teachers in the world.”