Rockdale Magnet students proved last year they not only excel in science and math, but also in giving back to the community.

The Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology was the 2010 high school recipient of the Alliance for Student Activities DifferenceMakers Award, an award that honors groups whose service to their community has made a difference in their world. This national award goes annually to only one high school and one middle school in the United States.

Rockdale Magnet School won this prestigious award with its "Food Wars" project, a food drive that enabled the local food bank to keep its doors open in a very lean time. The project involved a creative twist on a familiar class competition idea and pitted each grade level and the teachers against each other to see which group could bring in the most food. When the student leaders delivered their initial collection to the food pantry and saw the empty shelves that were causing the pantry to close its doors, they went back to school and motivated their peers to more than double the amount originally collected. Creative organization, strong student leadership, and good publicity fostered the group's success, and enabled them to get the entire school community involved.

"We often hear that young people are the leaders of tomorrow. With their demonstrated concern for the people in their community and their willingness to do something to help those less fortunate than them, the student leaders at Rockdale Magnet School have shown that they are leaders in their community today," says Lyn Fiscus, vice president of the Alliance for Student Activities. "We applaud their efforts and salute them as DifferenceMakers."

Because student activities reach teens who would often be left out and research shows that involved students do better in school and become more responsible adults, the Alliance for Student Activities recruits like-minded educators and others to provide a unifying voice on the value of student activities and a network for sharing resources, information, and training opportunities. For more information on the Alliance for Student Activities, visit www.alliance4studentactivities.org.