Elliott Elementary is a Title 1 school in the heart of Lincoln, NE. The students, families, and staff at Elliott are passionate about education. Elliott's minority student enrollment is 74% and our families speak 23 different languages. A number of our families have moved to the United States within the last 3 years.
Our school has a goal of 100% of students being on track to graduate and it begins with our youngest scholars.

Research has shown the strong connection between background knowledge and a student's ability to read. A lot of our kindergarten scholars have not had the opportunity to visit a pumpkin patch and learn about agriculture while surrounded by it.

This experience will help our scholars gain necessary background knowledge which will positively impact them in all aspects of their education, especially reading, writing, and science. Your contribution will help bring to life the things they are learning in school.

We are requesting $1500 plus cost reimbursement to pay for transportation and admittance for our scholars and staff attending. We appreciate your donation to help our youngest Elliott Owls experience something outside of our nest!

The Project: Lefler Snack Shack 
We are launching the Lefler Snack Shack, a mobile snack cart service dedicated to serving the amazing teachers at Lefler Middle School. To get this program rolling, we need community donations to help purchase our initial inventory, supplies, and cart decorations.

Why It Matters: Building Real-World Skills
This program is entirely operated by students in our Life Skills program. The Snack Shack serves as a hands-on learning lab where students gain vital, real-world experience:
Money Skills: Counting cash, making change, and tracking inventory.
Social Skills: Greeting customers, taking orders, and practicing polite communication.
Vocational Skills: Filling orders accurately and delivering them across the building.

The Cycle of Giving: Community Integration
Every dollar earned from the snack cart goes directly back into our students' education. 100% of the proceeds will fund community-based instruction trips, allowing students to apply their classroom knowledge in the real world.

Future activities include:
Coffee Shop Visits: Ordering items independently and managing personal budgets.
Grocery Store Trips: Navigating aisles, following shopping lists, and purchasing items.
Community Engagement: Practicing safety and social skills in public spaces.

How You Can Help:
Your donation directly funds the start-up supplies needed to launch this venture. By supporting the Lefler Snack Shack, you are investing in our teachers' morning pick-me-ups and, more importantly, empowering our Life Skills students with independence and confidence.

We are back for year 2 of our student leadership group: Norwood Park Navigators.

The student leadership group provides a way for us to increase student voice and provide leadership opportunities for our 3rd-5th grade scholars.  Our school counselor will lead and facilitate this group.

Our Navigators will strive for excellence, expect success, build community, and grow leadership skills. We believe it is important for our young scholars to participate in school, community, and civic engagement, build their leadership skills, increase self-awareness and growth, encourage teamwork, instill pride, help foster an increased sense of belonging amongst self and others, have respect for self and others, be a good role, model, and be a problem solver. All of these skills will help our scholars during their time at Norwood Park and beyond.

Our Navigators will take on leadership roles within our school including, but not limited to: greeting other students at morning arrival, leading new student tours, campus cleanup, helping with morning announcements, assisting with Friday food backpacks, helping deliver our healthy fruit and vegetable snacks, and so much more!

Your donation will directly support our group by providing essential supplies and t-shirts for our Norwood Park Navigators. Thank you for your consideration.