CINCINNATI -- Winton Woods Middle School has won thousands of dollars for a local nonprofit.
Students won $20,000 for the FreeStore Foodbank through the Lead-2-Feed Challenge.
Per its website, the Lead-2-Feed Challenge is a student program that encourages middle and high school students to hone leadership skills by giving students the opportunity to lead, create and implement team projects designed to meet a need in their community involving a nonprofit.
According to school officials, students set out a goal to change the current culture and climate at the school so that school leaders would see them as a resource for effective change.
The victory was no easy feat, according to Kathleen Barger, a gifted intervention specialist.
"We had a lot of obstacles," Barger said. "The kids applied for grants and they didn't get the grants. So they had to go for other funding."
Students led a variety of service-learning projects such as renovating a waiting room, creating an indoor garden, and collecting for the FreeStore Food Bank.
Although students are thankful to be recognized for their projects such the "Think Tank," the name for the waiting room they renovated, they are more concerned with the legacy they are leaving behind.
"The important part is that it will help other people do better in their lives," Kavita Nelson, a seventh grader, said.
In addition to winning money for the foodbank, Winton Woods Middle School will also receive a $10,000 technology grant.
