Athens Renaissance School students look over some of the items they planned to sell as part of a fundraiser for Eli's Block Party. Students and parents worked for about six hours to make superhero paintings, rain sticks, pencil grippers, friendship bracelets and wizard wands.

A group of students from Athens Renaissance School recently joined together to fight childhood cancer as part of a project dubbed the Kindness Campaign.

Students tied their project-based learning experience to Eli’s Block Party, a local Athens event in memory of Eli Williams. All ARS students in grades K-5 made crafts and sold them at Superhero Day, which was held Sept. 14. ARS donated the proceeds of over $688 to childhood cancer research to Eli’s mother, Kristie Williams, who will donate the funds to a cancer research doctor.

Leanne Huddleston, a teacher at ARS, said the idea for the Kindness Campaign came about after learning teachers would be spotlighted at Eli’s Block Party as examples of real heroes.

“Each year at ARS, our project-based learning lessons are how to be kind to each other as well as being responsible citizens,” she said. “We felt we could teach great lessons and then produce products that we could sell and benefit the research efforts for children battling cancer.”

Projects sold included T-shirts emblazoned with #Kindness, superhero paintings, rain sticks, pencil grippers, friendship bracelets and wizard wands. Huddleston said students were encouraged to bring in “prototypes” of items to be sold. They then chose the top six crafts to make.

She said teachers, parent volunteers and students dedicated about six hours during one week to create the items.

“The lessons that came from the project will go well beyond the six hours that we used to create them,” Huddleston said. “Students took great pride in their work because they knew these items would be sold and the money will go to help children that were ill. Many students worked extra hard to finish so they could make more of their items instead of only one.”