Giving Compass' Take:

• This segment from St. Louis Public Radio profiles a middle school in a local district in which students middle schoolers received an assignment to run a charity fundraiser.

• What can the success of this project tell us about raising the next generation of givers? Which principles should we instill in young people to promote generosity?

• Here's more on how to raise a child who cares.

A teacher at Orchard Farm Middle School started a new class this semester with one assignment: organize a fundraiser for a nonprofit of the students’ choice and follow through.

Chris Liesmann teaches Spanish in the eastern St. Charles school system. He decided to start an elective course on philanthropy. He called the class Change Makers.

First, he pushed the students — all eighth-graders — to pick a cause.

“What kind of tugged at your heartstrings, what made you think about something you hadn’t thought about, or what do you think you can make an impact (on)?” he asked them.

He was impressed with what they came up with.

“They are middle schoolers and so they’re like, ‘Well, what can I do?’ I want to get rid of that and say they can do something big and better and actually help other people that need help,” Liesmann said.

One group collected supplies for an animal shelter; another made food for the St. Patrick’s Center. Others collected items for a women’s shelter or blankets for cancer patients.

Read the full article about middle schoolers learning the feeling of giving back by Ryan Delaney at St. Louis Public Radio.