Portage Central Middle School

Citizenship in Action (CIA) provides service opportunities for CMS students.  Activities usually take place after school on weekdays or in the early afternoon on weekends.  Many events take place on the school grounds, but we also travel around Portage to complete our service projects.  Almost all projects are done in less than 2 hours.  Nearly 100 students participate in CIA events every year.  Our most active volunteer, Shelby Mannes, volunteered for almost 40 hours while she was at CMS.  Usually students just volunteer for a few of their favorite activities each year.   If you would like to be a part of Citizenship In Action, just follow these simple steps:

-Listen to morning announcements everyday and check the posters on room #65 for the next CIA activity.  Sign up sheets and permission slips are available in Mr. Winkle's room in C Wing (#65) AFTER each event has been announced. 

-Some activities are limited to a small group of students.  Volunteers will be taken first come, first serve.   Other events are open to any student who signs up.

-CIA activities are open to all current CMS students.  Sign up only for the activities you are interested in.  You do NOT need to be present at all the events to participate.

PAST CITIZENSHIP IN ACTION ACTIVITIES

FALL:

-Lemonade in the Celery Flats 

-Flower Planting at CMS

-Tupil Planting at Portage Public Library

-Leaf Raking for senior citizens

-Portage Creek Conservation Project

-Cleaning up the Courtyard

-Thanks You Notes to Troops

-Popcorn at the CMS Football Game

-Collecting Supplies for Kalamazoo County Animal Services

WINTER:

-Ring Bells for Salvation Army

-Donate food through Freerice.com

-Donating Sleeping Bags & Stuffed Animals for Lakota Children through the Giving Back to Wounded Knee Foundation

-Make Pet Toys for Kalamazoo Animal Rescue

-Make Suet Bird Feeders

SPRING:

- Elementary Book Collection

-Spring Flower Planting at CMS

- Letters to the Troops

-Earth Day Clean Up

-Clean school grounds at CMS, CES, and CHS

-Trout Unlimited Stream Project

-Planting Flowers with Kalamzoo In Bloom

Activities you can do at home

Donate food through Freerice.com

 - Go to www.freerice.com , sign up for a free user account and join the Citizenship In Action group.  Then just answer questions from the website.  For each correct answer you get, 10 grains of rice will be donated to the UN World Food Program.

Write letters to our troops through letssaythanks.com

- Go to http://letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html and send a thank you post card to a soldier serving over seas. 

Volunteer for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign (Bell Ringing). 

-Go to http://www.usc.salvationarmy.org/kalamazoo WITH A PARENT and sign up for a time and location to ring bells.  Bring a group of friends!!!

Make suet bird feeders.  Suet adds needed nutriets to birds' diets in the winter when food is harder to find. 

-Go to http://www.birdfeedersonly.com/articles-suet-bird-feeder-recipes for easy recipes (CAUTION: this can get really messy!)

Make a microloan to entrepreneurs around to world though the website kiva.org.  Microloans help people and families improve their lives.  Your money will be repaid quickly and you can reloan the money again or withdraw it. 

-Go to www.kiva.org, set up an account.  You can begin lending as little as $25.   (KIVA is giving away free trial loans, get one before they are gone !!! Just click on the link to get started  http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/kris1004