Socktober, a new annual tradition at Pike Road School took place this week. “Two students at Pike Road Schools recently took on the challenge as a way to raise awareness and support for the homeless. The result was a collection of 547 socks, 401 personal hygiene items, more than 1,000 snacks, 312 articles of clothing and 422 bottles of water.”

We are so proud of the Pike Road School students and faculty! Check out the Full Article from the Montgomery Advertiser.

The Internet sensation Socktober has taken root at the new Pike Road School and will become an annual tradition, town communications director Kadie Crowell said.

More than a million people worldwide participated in the effort in 2014, and the goal was for 2 million to take part in 2015, according to the ever-so-popular “Kid President.”

The campaign has grown into a collection drive for all types of necessities, helping millions of homeless people across the country.

Two students at Pike Road Schools recently took on the challenge as a way to raise awareness and support for the homeless. The result was a collection of 547 socks, 401 personal hygiene items, more than 1,000 snacks, 312 articles of clothing and 422 bottles of water.

Pike Road second-graders watched the video challenge and asked their teachers if they could organize their own Socktober. Thirty days and more than 2,000 items later, the first Pike Road School Socktober is in the books.

“Socktober turned out to be such a great project for our learners (students) and bigger than I ever imagined! After hearing about Socktober, our learners wanted to do something to help. They came up with a plan then asked each community (grade level) to help by bringing in items,” second-grade teacher Sara Steindorff said.

The students challenged the entire school to participate, dividing up the items according to grades, Crowell said.

“No matter how you do the math, it all adds up to more than 2,680 items for the Adullam House, a local shelter in Wetumpka, that provides a safe haven for children whose parents are incarcerated,” Crowell said. “These items will be given to the children who stay there and will help fulfill a great need. Shelter staff were all extremely grateful and appreciative when picking up the supplies. Adullam House staff was also thrilled to see how much ownership the students had in this project.”

While putting detailed thought into which group would collect what pieces, one second grader suggested that bottled water is too heavy for younger kids like kindergarteners, and that the item should be gathered by seventh and eighth graders. So that’s exactly what they did, Crowell said.

The project was organized and implemented almost solely by students. Students even led the publicity efforts by creating signs, collection boxes and writing text to be used on the website and social media outlets to help promote the event, Crowell said, adding that, “this will no doubt become an annual tradition at Pike Road School.”

The students not only learned about giving back, but teachers also used the drive as an educational opportunity for everyday subjects, such as math. Once the items began rolling in, the students were responsible for sorting and analyzing the data, also known as socks, snacks and waters. Teachers used this opportunity to introduce large number addition, place values and weighing items, even calculating the ounces of water they donated, Crowell said.