“People all over need warm coats for this upcoming winter,” said Eleanor Donato, sixth-grade world geography teacher at Watertown Middle School.

She is talking about Coats for Kids, a program that helps get warms coats to people in the community who need them.

“Last year we brought in 607 coats for Coats for Kids, and we came in second place,’’ said Mrs. Donato, who runs this event at Watertown Middle School. This year’s event runs from Oct. 13, 2014, to Jan. 10, 2015.

Current sixth-graders said it is important for kids to bring in coats because it gets really cold in the winter and people who can’t afford winter coats need something warm. They also kids should learn from helping ones in need, and they should not just do it for the prizes.

Each year, the sixth-grade class brings in the most coats, said Mrs. Donato. She says what motivates the sixth-graders are the success tokens.

“We get one token per coat we bring in and that’s what motivates us, I think, to bring in more coats,’’ said sixth-grader Lola K.

Also, most of the seventh- and eighth-graders already brought in coats and cleaned out their closets when they were in the sixth grade, said Mrs. Donato.

If anyone has a coat to donate to Coats for Kids,  it can be brought to Watertown Middle School at 68 Waverley Ave. during school hours. People can just ring the bell outside the school and tell the people who answer about the donation. There are a couple of boxes in the front lobby, and coats can be lef there.

Also, if the school brings in enough coats, there will be prizes for the school! First place gets $1,200 worth of furniture from Jordan’s Furniture for student furniture, and 100 IMAX tickets. Second place gets $500 toward books for the school library. Third place gets $250 toward school supplies.

More about prizes and other info can be found at the Coats for Kids website at http://antons.com/cfk.

As of Nov. 6, WMS had collected 162 coats, according to Mrs. Donato. If everyone connected to the school brings in just one coat, it would be enough to win a prize!

Please bring in a coat, but not just for the prize, but for the people who are in need for something warm.

–Nov. 23, 2014–