Spanish classes focus on community service 
Upper St. Clair High School students recently collected 15 bags and boxes of personal hygiene items and weather gear as well as more than $400 in gift cards to benefit Operation Safety Net, which provides outreach and medical services to Pittsburgh’s homeless community.
Spearheaded by Spanish teacher Kelly Krakosky, students enrolled in Spanish 2 and Spanish 3 participated in the community service project.
“It's so important for people to develop empathy and these service projects help with that,” Ms. Krakosky said. “My hope is that these projects will allow my students to realize early on that everyone has the potential to make an impact.”
In addition to the Operation Safety Net collection, students enrolled in Spanish 2 and 3 classes wrote letters to hospitalized veterans.
Spanish 3 students also participated in a food drive for Urban Impact, which benefits underprivileged children from Pittsburgh’s North Side, and wrote 100 letters to Safyre, the burn victim from New York whose aunt posted on social media that all her niece wanted for the holiday season was letters to fill a wire card holder she received as a gift.
“Despite the fact that we are just one small group of people in one high school in all of Pennsylvania, we can choose to dedicate ourselves to spreading kindness and generosity and actively help in solving problems around us,” Ms. Krakosky said. “Rather than just being bystanders to injustices and thinking someone else will do something about it, we can be purposeful in our outreach. We are doing good….hopefully, this will encourage others to follow suit.”
