Denton ISD Our Impact In Your Community Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 8

Ginnings Elementary’s Penelope Doria serves
snacks to the residents of Dogwood Estates.
Students of the 25-member volunteer organization
suggest projects and community service activities
to benefit those they see in need.
Lending a Helping Hand
Ginnings Elementary students learn the value of giving back
J
ulie Hawkins has always lived her life to
help others, so when given the opportunity
to join an organization to use her passion for
giving back she jumped at the chance.
“When I see homeless people out there, with
no food and no family to look out for them
it makes me feel sad, so anytime I can give
back, I want to,” Julie said. “Helping Hands lets
me do that at school, so it’s pretty cool.”
She and her classmates have collected items
for soldiers stationed overseas, spent time
visiting with local senior citizens, started a
local food pantry for neighborhood families in
need and, yes, crafted hundreds of
lunches for the homeless in Denton and
Dallas Counties.
Story and
Photos by
Mario Zavala Jr.
But Julie and her friends in Helping Hands
aren’t part of a student group at one of
Denton ISD’s high schools or a club run by
college students, they’re part of one of the
most popular student groups at Ginnings
Elementary and the leaders that make civic-
pride a regular part of campus life.
“It has really changed the way our school
acts now. Not that we were bad before, but
I think more people understand what it does
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to others in need when you help and how it
makes you feel,” said Sawyer Becker, a fourth
grader in Helping Hands.
Creating a positive influence in his students
is something that Geoffrey Gauntt wanted
to establish from day one at Ginnings. Mr.
Gauntt understood his part as a teacher and
role model for students, but he also wanted
to do something that would allow students
to serve as role models for their peers.
A first-year inclusion teacher in Denton
ISD, Mr. Gauntt inquired with school
administrators about starting an after-school
club that would focus on being a positive
influence and community service. Modeled
after a program he initiated at his previous
school, Helping Hands has taken off quicker
than he or anyone else on campus expected.
The club currently features 25 third, fourth
and fifth graders doing community outreach
throughout Denton and feel-good projects
back home, at Ginnings. They meet for an
hour after school, once per week, to discuss
on-campus needs, different ways in which
they can give back to their neighborhood or
simply work on current projects.