For 150 years Cicero has been home to both extraordinary heroes and to ordinary laborers. So it was very much in keeping with the town’s rich and diverse traditions, that its young residents-students at Unity Junior High school - would labor together in an extraordinary act of giving and caring - packaging 20,000 nutritious meals for local hungry and food insecure children and families - gifts of love to be distributed through food banks and soup kitchens in Cicero. What is especially impressive is that these student heroes raised the $5,000 to create the meals - and then spent hours packaging them.
Of course the labor is light with many hands, as nearly 200 student and faculty volunteers disinfected their hands, put on aprons, hairnets, and gloves, and joined hearts and hands in producing nutritious, flavorful meals of pasta and cheese - fortified with vitamins, nutrients, and protein - specifically designed to nurture bodies and lift spirits.
While food safety and quality were emphasized during the hands-on training, the experience is designed to be spirited, enriching, fun, and is for many, transformative. Students formed into production lines, assembling meals from bins of pasta and soy, adding cheese packages, and carefully weighing, heat-sealing and then packing into boxes. And when the boxing was complete, joining in a throaty cheer to celebrate their gift of life to those in need.
Unity Junior High School (http://www.cicd99.edu/index.php?q=node/482)
was opened in 2003 and is the largest middle school in the entire country. Divided into two campuses, the east and the west, Unity teaches 7th and 8th grade, with 4 floors on each side. Since it's the only junior high school in District 99, students from all District 99 elementary schools come here. Unity Junior High School has 2803 total students, 1436 male, 1367 female. Unity Junior High School maintains a student to teacher ratio of 20:1.
Of course the labor is light with many hands, as nearly 200 student and faculty volunteers disinfected their hands, put on aprons, hairnets, and gloves, and joined hearts and hands in producing nutritious, flavorful meals of pasta and cheese - fortified with vitamins, nutrients, and protein - specifically designed to nurture bodies and lift spirits.
While food safety and quality were emphasized during the hands-on training, the experience is designed to be spirited, enriching, fun, and is for many, transformative. Students formed into production lines, assembling meals from bins of pasta and soy, adding cheese packages, and carefully weighing, heat-sealing and then packing into boxes. And when the boxing was complete, joining in a throaty cheer to celebrate their gift of life to those in need.
Unity Junior High School (http://www.cicd99.edu/index.php?q=node/482)
was opened in 2003 and is the largest middle school in the entire country. Divided into two campuses, the east and the west, Unity teaches 7th and 8th grade, with 4 floors on each side. Since it's the only junior high school in District 99, students from all District 99 elementary schools come here. Unity Junior High School has 2803 total students, 1436 male, 1367 female. Unity Junior High School maintains a student to teacher ratio of 20:1.
