Student members of the BCMS Helping Hands Club, along with club advisors Cara Qualia and Cyrilla Peluso, recently participated in the Kids CAN Build competition hosted by the Shalom Food Pantry at Crossgates Mall.
Kids CAN Build is a friendly competition for middle school students hosted by the Shalom Food Pantry. Students are tasked with designing and building life-sized structures solely out of donated non-perishable food items.
“This was the Helping Hands Club’s first time participating in the Kids Can Build Competition,” said club advisor Cara Qualia. “We are incredibly proud of their hard work and dedication to this project! The event provided an excellent opportunity for them to combine the club’s mission of community service with STEAM. We feel very fortunate to have been a part of such an inspiring endeavor!”
The annual competition, now in its fifth year, took place at Crossgates Mall on Dec. 9. BCMS is the first public school to participate. The 2024 theme was “Can Do Camping: An Adventure Awaits.” The students spent the fall collecting donated canned and boxed foods, planning, designing, and practicing building their construction.
“The most challenging aspect of the project was figuring out how to organize the cans we collected to create a tent,” said student Maggie Driggs. “My favorite part was making the storyboard and going to the mall! I learned what Canstruction is and how it helps people.”
With BC’s mascot, Eddie the Eagle, proudly perched atop a tent made of cans, Bethlehem took home two awards: Best Storyboard and Best Meal.
“Having the opportunity to participate in the Kids Can Build event was so exciting and rewarding,” said club advisor Cyrilla Peluso. “We are so proud of our amazing group of students who showed leadership, teamwork, kindness, creativity, and community service while working together on this big project. Ending the event with two awards was such a wonderful surprise!”
“My favorite part was seeing everyone’s reactions to bringing our hard work to life,” said student Taylor Babic. “The most challenging aspect was getting started because we had so many generous donations. I learned that engineering each layer of the structure takes a lot of planning and teamwork.”
The structure is on display at Crossgates Mall until Monday, Dec. 23. The food will then be donated to local food pantries. Thank you to the BC community for all of the donations!
Congratulations to the BCMS Helping Hands Club:
- Amelia W.
- Ellie L.
- Juliet V.
- Olivia L.
- Maggie D.
- Hazel K.
- Audrey W.
- Mallory K.
- Luke V.
- Maia L.
- Davin F.
- Mabon H.
- Emma M.
- Taylor B.
- Simon B.
- Elisheva K.
- Elena E.
- Natalie C.
- Izzy A.
- Brynn B.
- Teddy B.
And, club advisors:
- Cara Qualia, Grade 6 Social Studies
- Cyrilla Peluso, Student Assistance Counselor
Thank you to the volunteers:
- Ms. Whitelaw
- Ms. Barrett
- Ms. Painter