Students and staff from Chestnut Wold Elementary School presented projects and activities tied to the school’s year‑long theme “Be a Bridge” at the Haverford Township School District board meeting on April 24.

Principal Mrs. Leach (identified in the presentation) introduced the work and several student delegates described classroom committees that focused on sustainability, schoolwide expectations and school culture. Fifth‑grade delegates said the sustainability committee has helped set up composting bins in the cafeteria and used morning announcements and posters to share guidance.

“We have 3 committees: sustainability, school‑wide expectations, and school culture,” students Mei Mei Shields and Charlie Petrowski said during the presentation, explaining how their committees produced announcements, posters and skits to engage younger students. Student speakers also described a “bridge slip” program to recognize acts of kindness and a Roots and Shoots after‑school club that maintains garden plots and plantings on campus.

Other student work and partnerships highlighted in the presentation included:

- A pen‑pal exchange between early elementary classes and a second‑grade class in Turkey; students described using translation tools and moving from iPad translation toward direct conversation in English.
- Community appreciation letters and collections: students wrote to local businesses and reported receiving responses and small gifts in some cases; they also collected supplies and kindness kits for local shelters and re‑stocked classroom materials for a school in Asheville affected by flooding.
- A STEM challenge tied to the bridge theme: each homeroom will construct a small bridge using STEM principles; top projects will be scaled to represent each grade in a final event that includes a township architect presenting about a local trail bridge project.

The school said the theme fosters belonging, perspective taking and empathy and that the activities offer cross‑grade leadership and real‑world connections to local partners. Principal Leach thanked staff, PTO volunteers and participating community partners and said the program will conclude with an assembly and grade‑wide bridge building activity in May.

Ending

Board members applauded the students’ presentations; the board and superintendent thanked Chestnut Wold staff and students for the community work and for sharing the curriculum projects with the district.