A group of enterprising Derby Middle School sixth grade students recently donated $200 to a nonprofit environmental group.
The students designed and sold bracelets in the school to benefit “Save the Sound,” a program from the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.
“Save the Sound” works to protect and improve the land, air, and water of Connecticut and Long Island Sound, according to the group’s website.
Click here to learn more about “Save the Sound.”
The seven Derby students are part of sixth-grade teacher Jenn Andrews’ “Genius Hour.”
The “Genius Hour” program is adopted from a practice the Google company used. The company allowed its engineers to spend 20 percent of their work days working on a pet project of their choice.
The combination of inspiration and innovation created Gmail, along with other projects.
“Genius Hour has been a great addition to my classroom setting,” Andrews said in an email. “It allows students to dive deeper into their personal interests that may be part of their future occupations. It shows students that you can learn and have fun at the same time.”
At Derby Middle School, the students researched “Save the Sound,” then designed, created and sold bracelets as a way to help the cause. They sold bracelets for $1 each.
On Dec. 22, David Wilkins, the development director for the Connecticut Fund for the Environment came to Derby to accept the donation from the students.
The names of the “Genius Hour” students are:
- Pirnaaz Mekael
- Alysa Cayer-McCarthy
- Cayla Cayer-McCarthy
- Brian Gregory
- Danthy Nguyen
- Sophia Brunetti
- Sean Fearnley
“Genius Hour” is important because it gets students to work together, while at the same time being independent of the teacher-classroom setting. It’s also a way to help motivate reluctant students by allowing them to work on something they are truly interested about, Andrews said.
“I am so proud of this group of students who reached out to Save the Sound to make a difference,” she said. “It makes students aware of community and helps to foster better community connections. It also is great that students as young as eleven years of age know the importance of helping and reaching out to others. That’s what life is all about.”
Last June Derby Middle School “Genius Hour” participants created and
sold cell phone cases to benefit the Hewitt Center for Breast Wellness
at Griffin Hospital.
