The first annual 2018 Sock Drive is under way at Indian Mills Memorial School

The goal of the drive is to collect 2,500 pairs of socks.

Indian Mills Memorial School student council shared some of its initiatives for this school year at this week’s board of education meeting.

Megan Szelc, one of the two advisors for IMMS student council (the other being Diana Haas), introduced the “2018 Sock Drive.”

This idea formed after a conference last year where Szelc and students of the middle school were encouraged to start a project to collect socks for the homeless. Szelc said socks are the №1 need for the homeless population.

“We figured, what’s better than starting one in our own school and serving the Philadelphia area as well as those in need from the recent hurricanes that happened down south?” Szelc said.

A short video was shown at the meeting, as well as to all students at the middle school, before the sock drive commenced. This video gave insight on potential health risks, such as gangrene, that can develop with poor foot hygiene and wearing the same pair of socks on a daily basis.

In addition, socks are rarely donated to clothing donation sites, making it difficult for the homeless to attain new socks once the pairs they own begin to form holes from everyday wear. The video also touched on the need for dress socks for the homeless anticipating job interviews.

The students of IMMS are broken into five teams, and each team has a bin located in the cafeteria to place the donated socks. There will be points for the number of socks donated, engaging the students in a friendly competition for a good cause.

The goal of the drive is to collect 2,500 pairs of socks, and they have even provided an alternative to the admission for their upcoming capture the flag tournament, giving the option to pay a $5 admission fee or to donate at least two pairs of socks.

All socks collected will be donated to The Joy of Sox in Philadelphia and hurricane relief in North Carolina.

Student council also has plans to participate in activities with the preschoolers, as well as to renovate the middle school bathrooms.

Indian Mills Memorial School student board representatives to the board of education were sworn in at the meeting, with nine selected IMMS students as representatives.

Each student underwent a two-week application process, obtaining teacher recommendations and participating in interviews.

After looking at the nine applicants, it was decided the board wanted all of them to be chosen as student representatives and for them to share the position. They were split up into three fall representatives, three winter representatives and three spring representatives.

The nine students are Peyton Dooley, Lindsey Hough, Morgan Rosenthal, Riley Gardner, Emily Lechner, Abby Mazzatta, Jazmyn Cruz, Michalah Dillard and Amy Lennox.

In other news:

• Superintendent Christine Vespe mentioned October is national Principals Month and extended a thank you to principals Nicole Moore and Tim Carroll for many years of dedication to the district.

The next board of education meeting will take place on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at Indian Mills Memorial School.