Hope. Future. Now.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I thought of my kids, my husband and the families that wanted to participate in doing something good for the Earth and was hopeful that they would not regret spending some of their precious weekend picking up garbage.  I have never participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup before and I really did not know what to expect.  I just wanted it to be meaningful.

After our group had gathered and we had been assigned a coordinator, we marched out to our cleanup area, which was centered around where Noons Creek meets the waters of the Inlet.  At first glance, there did not seem to be a lot of garbage to pick up.  However, our group of young boys soon got things rolling.  They dove into the brush with the zeal of young explorers, challenging one another to find the biggest, most interesting pieces of hidden garbage.

All morning, there was not a single complaint.  They were just having so much fun!  It was like a Easter egg hunt, but better.  The morning was filled with the sounds of people proudly calling out their finds to our groups’ data collector.  Plus, the garbage was gross and it was challenging to get to.  The boys needed to climb down banks, through thick brush, and over rocks.  The adults had only the challenge of moving the boys along.  They kept spotting new pieces of garbage and diving into the bush!

In the end, we filled four bags full of garbage and enjoyed a few Timbits together while the kids played on the playground.  What a nice way to connect with the community, the earth and one another.  I’ll certainly do this again.

When the time was nearing for our monthly volunteer time at “Warm Place for Women”, I felt that  with the approach of the summertime, we might not end up with a particularly powerful experience.  I was concerned that the kids might not be as “into” going.  I was also concerned that the women themselves might not be as interested in going out for a hot meal, and we might not end up with many people to actually serve!

Well, my concerns were completely ill founded.  The kids were lining up to go.  Despite the fact that we haven’t discussed Warm Place for a while, their enthusiasm had not at all diminished.  Six students ended up going and their experiences were as powerful as ever.  They came prepared with tons of thoughtfully chosen used clothing, toys and books to share.

Many women attended with their children last Thursday.  The atmosphere was busy, jovial and appreciative.  All of my students did an amazing job of looking after people in anyway that they could.  I am always astounded at how this experience seems to bring out the very best in my kids.  They seem so happy, confident and completely committed.

I encourage you to read their blogs and give them a little feedback on the experience!

Hope 5

Hope 23

We are coming up on our second round of “real acts of caring” projects, but this time I am connecting these projects with Earth Day.  I really want the kids to be able to plan out and follow through with a project that makes a difference to the Earth or its inhabitants, be it simple or otherwise.  Last time, everyone planned out an act of caring, but only about three quarters of the kids actually followed through. This is not because a quarter of the kids failed to care.  It is simply because their ideas did not match up with their priorities and/or were too complicated to properly follow through with.

This time, I would like to see that 100% of the kids actually follow through with their ideas.  Next week, you will get a taste what they have planned on individual project pages.  I encourage you to leave comments for individual students.  These have the effect of cheering them on, holding them accountable and making them think about how their ideas might be reshaped, if needed.

Miranda is first out of the starting gate with her project on “e-waste”.  I am posting a link to her original speech on the topic, in order to give you a bit of background.  I am also posting a link to her reflection on presenting her ideas to her village council.  She is hosting an e-waste drive in support of Earth Day.

E-Waste

My Speaking Experience

This, by the way, is an example of a more complicated project.   A more simple idea (from “Real Acts of Caring” round one) that received some worthy attention in the Belcarra Barnicle is the following project by Hope 12:

Real Act of Caring

Our class has spent the past couple of weeks learning about and connecting with all kinds of aspects of the Paralympics, from the events, to the athletes, to the treatment of disabled people over time and today.  They have also engaged in activities that hopefully have given them an appreciation for just how amazing many Paralympic athletes are.

As a final little assignment, I would like the kids to write a small blog post on what parts of this learning they have enjoyed the most and what they think of all of the stuff!  I want opinions backed up by experience!  I want to know whether or not all this learning/teaching has been worth while.

Back in February, I asked the kids to design, plan, and follow through with a simple act of caring.  One project was a little more ambitious than many, as it involved speaking to classes, creating posters, sending emails and gathering 200 pounds worth of non-perishable items for the local food bank.  I recommend that you read the posts of Miranda and Kalista, as they have explained their journey/success in their own words and would love some feedback.  Enjoy!

Hope 13

Hope 18 (scroll to “Real Act of Caring Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4)

We were back at “A Warm Place for Women” this past Thursday.  I had a big crew with me–8 kids in all!  I had a few concerns that this might prove to be unruly, but the kids were awesome.  Every time we go to Warm Place, the kids ask to return.  All of them.  It is proof that volunteering and serving people is not a burden.  It is fun for so many reasons.  I encourage you to read the kids’ blogs on their own personal experiences.

Hope 13

Hope 17

Hope 24

Hope 26

Hope 28

Over the past couple of weeks, my students have been planning, chronicling and carrying out their own real acts of caring.  I encouraged them to pick acts that would require some planning so that they would get used to thinking about what it takes to successfully follow through on a great idea.  Some have already carried out their real act of caring and–this is the best part–have ideas for more.  I encourage you to read the following posts and to leave comments and questions for our young philanthropists.

Hope 2

Hope 6

Hope 8

Hope 9

Hope 18

Hope 29

This is just a small taste of many real acts of caring.  You can read many other stories if you go to “Student Projects”.

This past Thursday, our class had our second experience volunteering at “A Warm Place for Women”.  We spent a couple of hours engaged in the joyful act of serving others and all had our eyes opened a little to the situations of many women and children in our community.

I personally experienced many powerful moments while observing the kids and hearing their spontaneous responses to what they were witnessing.  I encourage you to follow links below to the kids’ writing on their experiences.  They would love some encouragement and feedback!

Hope 4 (Tenaya’s Blog)

Hope 16 (Kaleb’s Blog)

Hope 22

Last Wednesday, January 13, I went to give Fin Donnelly his award from the My Hero Contest. He got the award because I made a film about him and what he did a few years ago. He swam up the Fraser River to try to solve river pollution by telling people not to pollute the waters. My film was entered into the My Hero Film Festival and I won honourable mention. Plus, Fin ended up getting a special hero award for all that he did.

Fin Donnelly gave me a award too. It was for choosing him as my hero and it was from the River Shed Society. It was a honor to get one from him because he is my hero. That was really gracious of him!

-Sarah

I encourage you to check out Sarah’s video that she created for Fin:  My Hero, Fin Donnelly

Our class is very lucky.  Recently, we have made a wonderful community connection that will allow us to have real experiences making a difference in the lives of others.  What you are about to read is a couple of posts from students explaining who we are going to be working with , what we are doing to help out right now and ideas for what we are going to do in the future.

our class has been introduced to an organization called a warm place for women and it is a place were women and ther kids go every first thurday of each month.the people that come are homeless or all most homeless and have no where to go so they go to the warm place for women and they get fed and they get clothes and the people that run it are named darlene and megan and their first person they had was dory and the reason she was their is because she was couch serfing in her freinds moble home and dory had a for year old chiled and her and her freind got in a fight and the goverment came along and took her child because the thought it was un safe fo her to have a child when she was all most homeless and after she got her child back later in her life and that is their story             and             the              end

Alex (Hope26)

On November 26 , 2009 two ladies came in our classroom. They introduced  us to a dinner that they host once a month for women and there children that are almost homeless and my friend had an idea that we could knit blankets and scarfs for these people. And show them how to knit.We are also going to show are class so they could help as well. We are doing this because we think it is important for people to have warmth. I really  like knitting because you get to be proud of your self  and get to say that you made it by your self and its nice because you get a neat hobbie. If I feel that way mybe they will feel the same!

Hope 8

My vision is that we make a baking club for everybody in our class that wants to. we are going to to do it once a week during the day till lunch we are going to have a  two to three parents helping out we are going to make all kinds of cookies for the nearly homeless woman and serve the cookies to them we are going to a bunch of cookies like ginger snaps, chocolate chip, and we well also make muffins and all other sorts of baking goods. we are going to give them to they nearly homeless woman for a gift to them they are going to be so happy we are going to try to start right after Christmas so we can get a fresh start on the baking and so they don’t go rotten.

Hope 27

At school we are planning to do some work at the warm place for women clinic like a project to make toys and let people have fun, not alot of nearly homeless women get a chance like this. I have some ideas for it, we could: fix old toys, knit something, have a bake sale, do art and crafts, make candles,make comix, and do game centres. The only things we have to worry about are the prices and who will help us with it. My favorite idea is the comic making, I really think I should do that at the dinner, when I do that at the dinner I will bring comix and show kids how to make comix. Well I know that was short but that is what I have to list about so bye bye.

Hope 20

We recently took the first step to connecting with the “Warm Place for Women”.  When I met with Darlene, who helps to organize the dinner and activities every month, she mentioned that she needed to put together sixty small gift baskets for the women for the December dinner.  Immediately, I jumped on the chance for my kids to help out with a little project, and offered to take the job off of her hands.  I put my grade 5 girls in charge of figuring out what we should put into these baskets, how much it would cost us, and how much money we needed to raise in order to accomplish our task.  It was a great little math project, and the girls were especially thrilled when they got to go shopping for the gifts with parents and the principal during the school day!   The December dinner occurred just this past Thursday, and Darlene sent this little note along to me, along with the picture that you saw at the start of the post and the one you are seeing below:

Hi Jen, as promised here are a couple of pictures to share with the kids. My batteries ran out so didn’t get as many as I would have liked but will do better next week!

We had 91 guests show up including our members…it was crazy! But a wonderful time was had by all and the baskets were very much appreciated!!!  Please pass on to the kids that everyone is looking forward to meeting them
in January.

Darlene

Yes, the kids will get a chance to volunteer at the dinner every month!  This should be a wonderful experience for them and provide great fodder for some very interesting blog posts yet to come. Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone!