Canstruction is an annual design
and build competition among community organizations to construct creative
structures made entirely out of canned food. This year’s event was sponsored by
Whole Foods Market and the Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB), and was held at
Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa, where structures were displayed from March 4 to
March 17. The goal of Canstruction is to raise awareness of hunger in Sonoma
County and get canned food donated to REFB.
This year our 3rd grade
after school class at Kawana Elementary teamed up with Kate Briggs and Burbank
Housing Development Corporation’s architect Toni Holland and project manager
Chaney Delaire to create our very own Kawana Kids CAN! Canstruction 2012 team!
Our 3rd grade after
school class was a vital and enriching part of our team. For two months we led
lessons involving Canstruction and the students learned more than they expected!
In the first lesson, we talked about what “raising awareness” means, how we
were going to contribute to raising awareness of hunger, and how Canstruction
helps in that effort. We created nutrition lessons on the effects of being
hungry and ways to prevent hunger, and the students gained a lot from this. Our
students read books on hunger, homelessness, soup kitchens, and poverty after
they finished their homework to gain background knowledge on the subjects. We
led a lesson around the book Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen in which
our students learned that people who are homeless are still people, soup
kitchens make much more than soup, and volunteers can make a huge difference. The
students met with Billy Bartz from the REFB to learn about the food bank, how
it receives and donates food, and what they can do if they are in need of food
assistance. Billy brought pictures of the food bank and of past Canstruction
structures and the students were amazed! In thank you cards to Billy some
students shared about how their families use the food bank weekly in order to
have enough to eat and they were happy to learn all about it.
The students participated in an
architecture lesson with Chaney, in which they learned what an architect does and
how we would use architectural concepts to build our structure. In four groups
the students designed their own Canstruction structures, coming up with a fruit
basket, a soccer game between fruits and vegetables, Bugs Bunny eating a
healthy snack, and a tree growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables. With a
class vote, our students chose the fruit basket design. On Sunday, March 4th
we met up with Kate, Chaney and Toni at the Coddingtown Mall to build our
“Fruit Basket” out of over 400 cans. Building a structure out of cans proved to
be difficult but exciting and by the end of the build we were all proud of our
work.
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The following week the 3rd
graders, along with helpers Melissa Collins and Lauren Serpa, traveled by city
bus to the mall to see their final product. After putting our hearts and souls
into this project it was so rewarding to see our students’ faces burst with
excitement and pride when our class approached “The Fruit Basket”. They were so
proud and amazed by the structure. Emanuel M., who had the idea of the
watermelon, was so happy he continuously said, “That is my watermelon, I drew
that!” While reflecting on the project we asked the students what their
favorite part of the project was and their answers were mature and meaningful.
Answers to the question included, “My favorite part was learning about the food
bank,” “learning about homelessness,” “seeing the structure,” “raising
awareness of hunger,” and “designing the fruit basket.” On Saturday, March 17th
our building team gathered at the mall for an awards ceremony where we won the
“Healthiest Meal’’award and brought a
beautiful glass trophy back to CalSERVES, Kawana Elementary, and Burbank
Housing.
As mentors we took on this project
because we wanted our students to learn as much as they could about their
surroundings, and the importance of raising awareness about hunger and any
other issue they may be passionate about. Every day of this project was
rewarding and meaningful. We had students go home and inform their parents
about how to get food for their families. Our students learned how to work as a
team to build a structure, and to be grateful for what they have. This project
would not have been possible without the dedication of Kate Briggs, Burbank
Housing’s Chaney Delaire and Toni Holland, the Redwood Empire Food Bank, the
Network for a Healthy California, Coddingtown Mall, and the generous donations
from Muir Glen and Whole Foods Market.
Thank
You,
Samantha
Southworth & Ruthy Sanchez
