Turning Research into Action

In eighth grade, three-time Carson Scholar Sydnee Shannon’s reading teacher asked each student to research a topic and produce a project based on that topic. Sydnee knew she wanted her project to help people, and decided to investigate hospitals in her area to find out what she could do. After researching local hospitals’ policies and various childhood illnesses, Sydnee decided to start a toy drive at her school and donate the toys to the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

In the toy drive’s first year, Sydnee convinced students, teachers, and others at her middle school to participate. Inspired by her initial success, Sydnee has continued the toy drive every year since then. Now in eleventh grade, Sydnee has expanded the toy drive to include both her middle school and her high school. An avid swimmer, she has also collected toys at a home swim meet, where swimmers from numerous teams are all together.

In 2011, Sydnee collected over 100 toys – her biggest year yet. She hopes to get other high schools in Howard County involved next year, and would like to start including other hospitals as well. Sydnee’s toy drive shows that just one individual can be a spark that inspires others to give back and get involved. She is an excellent example of the good that can happen when we take a little time to think about what we can do to make someone else smile.