Mantua’s J. Mason Tomlin Elementary and its students collected more than 300 cereal boxes for the Church of the Incarnation’s food pantry during the school’s Cereal Box Domino Run on Feb. 3.
Students in grades three through six stacked up the boxes in lines, knocked one over and watched as they fell one by one – like a Dominoes game.
“Our district prides itself on the strong character education program we have developed and implemented over the past eight years,” said Tomlin Principal Christine Connelly. “As part of this program, and through our Character Council, we focus on a specific charitable cause each month.”
Elementary-school students in the township were asked during January to donate boxes of cereal for local food pantries. Tomlin’s donations went to the Incarnation Church, Centre City School’s collection went to Angels of God and Sewell School’s collection went to Peter’s Pantry.
Students dropped the donations into classroom collection boxes and were given daily reminders throughout the month. Both students and teachers were cheered for their efforts.
“It was awesome,” said Connelly. “My original thought was to have the Domino Run line the hallways and maybe even include the upstairs in our building. However, as the month went on, and I realized that plan would take a tremendous number of cereal boxes, I knew we had to scale it down.
“Our STEM teacher, Mr. (Edward) Pietrzak, and I formulated the plan to hold an individual Domino Run for each grade’s lunch period,” she added. “The reaction was pure excitement. Our students, teachers, custodians, cafeteria staff and maintenance staff all gathered in the lobby to enjoy the event.
“It was the perfect way to celebrate our school’s generosity and commitment to serving our community.”
This year marked the first cereal box Domino Run at Tomlin, and the school already has big plans for next year.
“We’re already talking about how to create even more excitement next year to collect more cereal boxes,” Connelly noted. “My hope is to move the event into the gym so we can create an even bigger and more intricate cereal box Domino run.”
