The Apple Project 2015

The Apple Project is a Choice tradition.

School Projects

This year, Choice added additional Meijer gift card donations to enhance each Academy’s compassion project. New this year, staff attending the holiday parties brought books, hats, and mittens to be dispersed throughout our schools. Thank you for being a part of making a difference in the lives around you!

Here are some of the examples of how you expressed your compassion for the families in your school community.

Part of the Character Choices program is to “give back” to the community during compassion month. See what our schools are doing.

Benton Harbor Charter School Academy
BHCSA is working with Wonderland Toy Store twofold: as a collection site for new toys and/or gift cards. They are also inviting families to participate in the toy store.

Bradford Academy
Bradford Academy is giving back to a family at the school. One of the fourth-grade students has a very rare disease and he has a very short time to live. The school held a fundraiser for him at Shields Pizza in Southfield on December 10th, where 20% of carryout and dine-in orders went to his family. Bradford wrote a letter to Mojo in the Morning – a local radio station – and his family was chosen for their “Breaking and Entering Christmas.”  The school is trying their very best to make what could be his LAST Christmas, the BEST Christmas.

Dove Academy
Dove Academy is having it’s annual community dinner where they provide dinner and the families bring the desserts! The school also donates blankets, stuffed animals, and books to the homeless through Project Night Night. The 1st-grade team is also holding their second annual food drive.

West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science
WMAES’s Student Council runs “Toys for Eagles” for needy families. The school also runs a food drive in conjunction with the Walker Police Department through the months of November and December. The service learning students donate their time at the Homeless Missions (Mel Trotter) and for the distribution of toys for the Angle Tree & “Toys for Tots.”

A family in need let the school know that the kids had been asking for a tree and they just couldn’t afford one so Stephanie Sherman purchased a gift card to Home Depot. They used the gift card to buy an artificial tree so that they will always have one from now on. The only ornaments/decorations the family used on the tree were bows made from the ribbon the school sent them last year with their Toys for Eagles gifts. The eighth-grade student made the ribbon into bows and a tree topper for the tree.

K-2 students visited nursing homes to sing carols and bring cards.

Three Oaks Public School Academy
TOPSA+ is doing a canned food drive to help families who need extra care this Christmas.

Battle Creek Montessori Academy
BCMA is participating in the WOW Project where they collect new or gently used gloves, they are collecting items for the BCMA Closet where they collect new or gently used uniforms, winter jackets, snow pants, and boots for BCMA students in need. They are also doing a Girl Scout Can Drive along with some individual classroom projects.

Macomb Montessori Academy
MMA is having an “Around the World” lunch for local firefighters, police officers, and ambulance drivers. This will be held at the school on Friday, December 18.

Muskegon Montessori Academy for Environmental Change
MMAEC is doing a food drive for the Muskegon Mission and is a donation site for the Salvation Army Angel Tree.

Morey Montessori Public School Academy
For the month of December, each class at Morey found a way to serve in the community. Each of these projects was created and planned by students! The school is calling the project “Morey Serves.”

• Mrs. Myers room spend a day volunteering at local park helping to prepare the park for winter visitors.
• Miss Abbey’s room is volunteering as Bell Ringers for the Salvation Army at night with their parents.
• Mrs. Martin’s & Mrs. Mills room visited a local nursing home to do arts and crafts with the residents.
• Miss Ashley’s Class is visiting the local animal shelter to help clean and feed the animals.

Morey also adopted a family for Christmas as a staff team. They are giving them a family photo shoot along with gift cards to allow them to purchase presents for their children.

Four Corners Public School Academy
FCMA held a school-wide used toy drive. Individual classrooms also did different things to give back: made dog treats for a local animal shelter, made fleece blankets for local homeless shelter, and made play dough for local daycare students.

New Branches Charter School Academy
New Branches adopted two families through a joint effort of the Apple Project and Millbrook Church’s Angel Tree. As a school community, they held a toy drive and donations were given to the local homeless agency (a parent at the school works for this organization). Many lower elementary grades are showing random acts of kindness each day.

Global Preparatory Academy
GPA decided to create holiday cards through a new program they created called, “Give a little, give a lot.” Each student viewed three short videos, one for elderly in nursing homes, one for sick children in the hospital, and one for the military. They got to choose which group to write their holiday card to. The goal was to show students that people struggle in many different ways and even a simple act can make a big difference. After the cards were written, staff members delivered the cards to the local military base, a local nursing home, and the children’s hospital in Detroit.

Second Home Child Development Center
Two families were adopted and Variety Foods also donated a basket of food to the families.

Staff Families Assisted

We were also able to bless numerous employees in our schools. Some examples include:

• Funds for past due rent and grocery/gas cards
• Funds for past due rent, car repair, and grocery/gas cards
• Funds for past due rent, caretaker expenses, and grocery/gas cards
• Funds to help with student loans, groceries, and past due preschool tuition
• Funds for past due rent and groceries/gas/Christmas presents
• Funds for past due car loan and energy utility bill
• General financial support
• Funds for past due energy utility bill
• Grocery gift card
• Grocery and gas card for an employee who just adopted a younger relative in need
• Funds for a past due energy utility bill
• Funds for a past due energy utility bill to prevent shut off
• Funds for gas cards to help an employee get to work
• Funds for grocery/gas cards, and for medical bills

We all need to pause and reflect on this… Such contribution is evident of the compassion for our students, their families, and our staff during this season. This should inspire us to do more. We are SO thankful for the opportunity to be able to intentionally bless our employee families who are members of our Choice community. While the nature of gift may change from year to year, it is our hope that the Apple Project will continue to gain momentum as we live out our value of serving others.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!