“We Became the Impact”: A K/1 Multi-age Journey of Empathy, Action, and Learning
What does it look like when young children realize they can make a difference?
As educators in a K/1 multiage classroom, we’ve always believed in the power of Project Work—learning that is meaningful, rooted in student interest, and tied to the real world. Over the past seven years, our Multiage Program has grown from a pilot K/1 classroom to a thriving community of learners and teachers, including three k/1 classrooms and two 2/3 classrooms. Throughout its evolution over the past seven years, one thing has remained constant: our commitment to honoring student voice and making learning matter through PBL.
Multi-age classrooms lend themselves beautifully to PBL. With a wider range of ages, access to developmentally appropriate content can often be a challenge. We have had many conversations about how to best meet the needs of all our learners. We have found that teaching broad-based skills in conjunction with targeted small group learning opportunities supports each student, no matter where they are on the developmental continuum. As a school, we believe the main benefits of multiage learning are the social dynamic (getting to be both the younger and older student) and the two-year relationship with the same teachers. With all of these foundational pieces in place, the PBL approach opens doors to deepen our learning as a community.
This past year, our school theme was REACH. All classrooms, kindergarten through fifth grade, use the yearly theme to help develop and enhance curriculum and projects. We developed a question to help guide our learning: “What does it mean to reach beyond ourselves and into our community?" That single question sparked a journey of empathy, leadership, and real-world impact. As teachers, we are keen observers of what the children are bringing to the surface through their play. Day after day, the students were creating restaurants, kitchens, menus and a wood fire pizza oven. They were telling us they wanted to give food to others.
To help frame that desire, we decided to start asking questions that would encourage the children to connect their play with a need in our greater community.
Our first question was:
What does it mean to have an impact?
We invited students to reflect on what they care about and how they might make a difference in their community. At first, they thought about how they could make someone feel by sharing ideas such as “Make someone feel at home,” and “Make someone feel like they matter.” Through rich conversations, the students began to uncover the idea that even small actions can ripple outward to create meaningful change. They began to talk about how they could donate food or items to people in need. One student shared how they give their clothes away once they have grown out of them, and others chimed in, “Me too!” Our conversations shifted to actions they have and can take to make an impact. Many students spoke about people not having enough to eat. Their concern was genuine and personal. The idea took root, especially after reading Maddi’s Fridge—a story about friendship and food scarcity—which deeply resonated with the children.
At first, the students’ ideas included giving cooked food away to people who needed it or having their parents cook food to sell to raise money to give to people in need. Then someone mentioned a Food Drive, and our community exploded. So many children had ideas and personal experiences around this topic, and they were eager to share. Through all these connections, a common theme emerged—food insecurity.
And just like that, The Donation Project was born.
After collecting canned and boxed food items, the children worked in their teams to sort the donations into nine categories. Each team tallied the number of items they had in each category and recorded their total for the day.
Planning and Building: From Vision to Action
Once the students identified their cause, the energy shifted from conversation to creation.
The children were very interested in “selling” food via a food truck to raise money but as we continued to discuss this idea, we realized the logistics would not be feasible. However, the idea of sharing food with others became a learning opportunity and we explained the process of food donation. We introduced the children to a local organization, The Greater Cleveland Food Bank, whose main mission is to distribute donated food to those most in need. Keeping with their hope of a “food truck”, we suggested creating Donation trucks.
We formed six Donation Teams, each tasked with designing and building a food truck, using a wagon as a base, to represent their team’s mission. Students measured cardboard, collaborated on blueprints, cut, painted, problem-solved, and proudly brought their visions to life. Each team created a name and logo, including: The Kindergarten Food Truck, Hawken Helpers, The Night Birds, The Cool Can Collectors, Friendship Food Truck and The Fifth Grade Foodies.
These trucks were more than just imaginative play—they were visual symbols of action and collaboration.
With their food trucks ready, students moved into action. They created posters, visited Lower School classrooms, and delivered persuasive pitches encouraging others to donate. This was an opportunity to practice public speaking, advocacy, and persuasive communication. The students weren't repeating adult-written lines. They spoke from the heart, using their own words and voices. After introducing this service learning opportunity to the entire Lower School, they “drove” the Donation trucks through the hallways every morning for a week to collect donations.
Once the daily collections were complete, the teams worked collaboratively to collect data. As part of math learning, students sorted the donated food into categories, used tally marks to record quantities, and applied early numeracy skills to record totals. Later, they created bar graphs and pie charts to represent their data. This intentional weaving together of PBL and curriculum created meaningful engagement with content - math with a purpose that impacted the greater community.
The original goal was to collect 700 individual canned and boxed food items. After the calculations were complete, the students were thrilled to discover that we collected over 1,200 food items!
Our K/1 class led this project, but it was truly a community effort. Each grade level played an important role in the success of our food drive. The Donation Station served as a visual tracker, allowing students to see just how much their grade had collected each day. It was an inspiring way to build excitement, encourage teamwork, and celebrate the growing impact of our efforts.
The Culminating Moments
The final step was delivering the food to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank—1,117 pounds of it. Our young students witnessed firsthand how their actions translated into real support for real people.
One staff member at the food bank shared that they had “never seen such intention around the collection of food from a group this young.” We were touched and encouraged by this comment. We had worked hard to frame this project for the children and give them opportunities to build agency. When someone with an outside perspective clearly recognized the purposeful design and impact we knew we had brought the true purpose of the Donation Project to life. That moment validated everything. These children didn’t just learn about making an impact, they became the impact. To mark the journey's end, we hosted a family event showcasing the students' work. They wrote a script, narrated a video, and shared their data books and trucks. The sense of pride and accomplishment in the room was palpable.
As one kindergartener, Emmy, reflected:
“We started the donation project with the book Maddi’s Fridge. We learned that some families don't have enough money to buy food. We decided to make a big project to collect food. I think we made a positive impact! Impact is a thing that you do to make somebody feel happy and thankful.”
Georgia, a first grader, shared:
“I liked working together as a team. My favorite part was learning how we can help others. My team was the Friendship Food Truck. It was fun painting and holding it up using the zip ties and cutters.”
This project reminded us—and hopefully others—that even our youngest learners are capable of deep, meaningful work when we listen to their ideas and trust their leadership. It showed us how essential it is to give children the tools and opportunities to act on their empathy. With support and space, even five, six and seven-year-olds can be changemakers.
So, what will your learners do when you ask,
“What does it mean to have an impact?”
The Donation Trucks were on display during our Family Celebration. Families had the opportunity to walk around each truck and see up close the incredible work their children had put into them. From creative decorations to thoughtful organization, each truck reflected the teamwork, care, and effort that went into supporting our food drive.
Pro-Tips for Educators Looking to Try a PBL experience:
Let the topic emerge authentically. Listen to what kids care about and follow their lead.
Ground the project in story. Maddi’s Fridge was a powerful launch point that sparked empathy and action.
Intentionally integrate a variety of content areas. Choose authentic learning goals in math, literacy, social studies, and/or SEL, all of which are found in authentic connections.
Make it public. A community audience raised the stakes and gave students a real sense of purpose.
Celebrate their work. Honor the process, not just the outcome.
Melissa Smith and Kristen Wise are a K/1 multiage team of educators at Hawken School in Lyndhurst, Ohio who are passionate about student-led learning, empathy-driven projects, and collaborative classroom communities.
Melissa holds a Master’s Degree in Education and brings over 20 years of teaching experience to her work. Passionate about lifelong learning, she balances her dedication to education with her roles as a devoted wife and mother of three. Outside the classroom, Melissa enjoys traveling, taking long walks, and exploring new hobbies each summer—this year, she’s been experimenting with growing microgreens.
This is Kristen’s 24th year of teaching. She has a Master’s Degree in Reading Specialization and is an Executive Functioning Coach. When not at school, she loves being in nature, whether reading at the beach, collecting feathers on hikes, or sitting by her fire pit. Kristen lives near Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband, two teenage children and her Boston terrier.