Kindergarteners learning math and community support through food drive

Published 1:30 pm Monday, November 24, 2025

Special to the Reporter

West Mercer Elementary and the school’s PTA organized a Thanksgiving Food Drive to support the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

West Mercer kindergarten teachers Michele Frisch, Tara Hutschreider and Claire Phillips developed a unit for students that used the school food drive to teach their students math and community support.

Several weeks ago, the three kindergarten classes gathered as a cohort to count how many kindergarten students were at the school. The students found there were 50 kindergarteners at West Mercer.

The kindergarten teachers and students set a goal of collecting 100 food items — two items per student — by Nov. 20 to donate to the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

On that day, each student that brought a food item made a mark on a tally sheet, which recorded food items donated in groups of five and groups of ten, to track their progress toward their goal.

After all the tally marks were compiled, the kindergarten cohort gathered to count the tally marks as a group to find out if it had reached its goal of 100.

The kindergarteners blew past their goal by collecting 131 food items.

These 131 food items kindergarteners collected were part of the more than 400 pounds of food all West Mercer students collected in the food drive for the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

Through the food drive, kindergarteners were also strengthening their social emotional muscles and becoming aware of the idea that if we all give/help out a little bit, we all end up with a lot.

West Mercer’s kindergarten teachers also used the food drive as an opportunity to weave in literacy, reading many versions of “Stone Soup,” a folk tale about strangers who trick villagers into sharing their food to create a communal feast. The students compared and contrasted the many different characters, settings and aspects of the different versions of Stone Soup.

Direct donations to the Rainier Valley Food Bank can be made at https://givebutter.com/donate-rvfb.