LA CROSSE, Wis., (January 13, 2022) – Fifth-grade students at State Road Elementary School came up with a dozen ways to make La Crosse an even better place. The students hosted a mini La Crosse SOUP at school to present their ideas to classmates, teachers, and families.
The pitches included support for sheltered animals, athletic gear for students who can’t afford it, LGBTQ+ advocacy, a portable library, and more. La Crosse SOUP is a quarterly micro-granting event for people of all ages and backgrounds with the goal of bringing our community together to support creative projects designed to promote community-based development through crowdfunding, creativity, collaboration, trust, and fun.
“As part of our opinion writing project we always focus on how to make the world better but this time we decided it would be more beneficial to have it be closer to home and in our community,” said fifth-grade teacher Heather Struver. “We want our students to know that even a small idea can make a big difference to others. Researching their pitches, our kids learned so much about where we live. Our students have so much to offer and seeing them shine in these moments is so important. It gives us a little glimpse of who they might be as they grow up and make their way into the world. It’s been incredible.”
One of the student pitches, “All Abilities Playground”, was selected by SOUP board members to be included as one of the four community pitches at the next La Crosse SOUP event, SOUP at the Rivoli coming up on January 26.
The project, if it wins, will bring more playground equipment to the school that makes having fun on the playground accessible for all students.
