As schools across Kansas and the U.S. celebrate American Education Week this week, a group of Topeka Collegiate students are learning some life lessons that can't be found in a textbook.

About four times a year, a group of Collegiate middle school students go out into the community and spend an afternoon helping others in a variety of settings.

Recently, Migual Martinez' eighth-grade homeroom class went to Let's Help Inc., 200 S. Kansas Ave., and folded and organized bedding, towels and other bath items.

"We just come and help in any way that they need," Martinez said of his students.

"We do something different every time we're here," said Marisol Kingfisher, 13, an eighth-grader. "It's just about giving back to our community."

Shay Rees, 14, an eighth-grader, said taking time out of school to help in the community makes the experience more meaningful.

"Doing it during school, it helps you feel better about doing it," she said.

"I think it shows we really want to give back," Skyler Dykes, 13, another eighth-grade student, said. "It makes me feel special."

Grayson Manley, 13, said going out into the community to help others gives her and her classmates a different perspective on their own lives.

"It has made us feel how fortunate we are," she said.

While these girls were busy at Let's Help, other Collegiate students were fanned out across the capital city, lending a hand to other groups and organizations.

They were divided among the Ronald McDonald House, Helping Hands Humane Society, the Easter Seals Capper Foundation and bowled with the residents of the Plaza West Regional Health Center at the West Ridge Lanes.

Because of the variety of places the Topeka Collegiate students go to help, the students say the program gives them a chance to see where they may want to donate more of their time, outside school and perhaps when they are older.

And while this group of eighth-grade girls all agreed they don't mind doing tasks that may not seem like fun to most people, they really get more out of talking directly with the people who go to Let's Help for assistance.

"I was told by someone when we were helping here as sixth-graders, 'I have never gotten a wrapped present,'" Shay Rees said, recalling when they gave out items over the holidays. "It was so cool, giving out the socks and mittens, especially to the kids."

Rudy Guzman, director of development at Let's Help, said the Collegiate students' willingness to lend a hand to those less fortunate than they are speaks volumes of their giving nature.

"I believe these students come here with eyes wide open. They're willing to get out of their comfort zone and take a chance," he said. "They don't have the uncomfortableness that some adults have, being around people who aren't like them. They don't see income. They don't see color. They see a need and they help."