By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The impact of the Oak Manor Elementary student council stretches far beyond the walls of the school.
Each month the group of sixth graders choose a new project to help the surrounding community in some way.
In its first year, the council has already delivered gifts to area nursing homes and raised money to donate to United Way.
One of the council's first projects was donating to United Way of Niles. To raise the funds the students brought in money every day for a week and the class with the largest amount was awarded with school supplies like pencils and erasers. Findeisen said a final donation of $213 was given to United Way from the student council.
For the most recent project, the members of the group are once again asking for help from everyone in the school. The goal is to connect with troops stationed overseas so every student at Oak Manor is composing a letter of encouragement to soldiers serving away from home in the Middle East.
Findeisen said the students simply want to make a difference outside of the classroom.
The student council is overseen by Findeisen and Amy Scott. The 30 sixth-graders involved with the group at Oak Manor had to work their way into the program, Findeisen said. To be selected to the group, each member had to produce an application and three teacher references. Findeisen said the advisors received more than 100 applications for the council.