The Builders Club is an elective class offered each academic quarter at College Preparatory Middle School, a high-performing public charter school located in Spring Valley.

Ms. Catherine Spencer, the 8th grade science teacher, sponsors the Builders Club as a way to allow 8thgrade students to experience and create lasting impacts on both College Prep and the San Diego community. Additionally, this elective teaches students how to be leaders and have a positive impact on our environment.

Throughout the quarter, students partake in multiple activities such as school cleanups, but the most significant activity is the partnership with the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Drive that takes place in the second quarter of each school year.

Known as “Restock the Pantry” which takes place after Christmas, or “Stock the Pantry” which takes place before Christmas, the students in this elective work together to feed families in need.

In order to decide when the Food Drive begins, Ms. Spencer contacts the organization to finalize the dates. The class can then move onto the second step: promoting and creating boxes.

This is one of the most important parts of this process. Students of the Builders Club in the second quarter collect boxes that they decorate which are personalized for each of the 18 homerooms that receive a box for the Food Drive. By promoting the fundraiser to all of the school’s students and families, the amount of food brought in and the results of the Food Drive can be amplified.

The next step is decorating posters and boxes.

Students choose one to two teachers to collect food during the three weeks of the Food Drive. In groups, the entire class creates five to eight colorful posters stating the food requirements and most wanted foods. This includes cereal, rice, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, powdered milk, infant formula, canned chicken, tuna, beans, soup, vegetables, and dried fruit. Posters are hung up in the school hallways, while the boxes go to the designated homerooms. Additional information regarding the Food Drive is stated daily in the school’s morning announcements for students and the school’s ParentSquare for families.

Afterwards, the collection of food begins.

During the Food Drive, students check on homeroom boxes for food. They then report back to Ms. Spencer with the total number of items collected to track the amount of food that has been collected so far. Homeroom totals are also posted in the hallway for all students to see and are updated on a daily basis.

Once the Food Drive has ended, the Builders Club packages the donations into numerous boxes and moves them to a site so they can be picked up. After the San Diego Food Bank collects the food, pounds of food are measured and the number of meals are determined for the food that is donated.

This year’s Food Drive provided 547 pounds of food which was turned into 455 meals.

The Builders Club is extremely proud of their hard work throughout this year’s Food Drive and are glad that they were able to provide meals to those in need, something College Prep calls Tiger Pride!

Editor’s note: This article was written by College Preparatory Middle School students Londynn Brown and Alyssa Okafor.