As we head into the holiday season there tends to be a lot of excitement in the air. Students are excited for a two week break from school, spending time with family, and presents that they receive. It is a happy time of year for a lot of people, but not all. As we transition from Thanksgiving where we reflect on our good fortune, we have to realize that there are others that are not as fortunate as us for a variety of reasons.
This is a great time to teach our kids what it means to give back to the community. A lot of times this is picking up a toy at the store for a toy drive. It could also be dropping a couple of dollars in a jar or a kettle to help support a local charity or donating food to a food bank. Well, not all kids have extra money lying around to help give to the community and they don’t know how they can give back. It is important that they know that giving back is not always about money and that they can do a lot of good by giving back their time, but what could that look like?
Sometimes it is not a grand gesture that makes the most difficult times a little easier to manage, but the small things that make a big difference. Try simple things; make a card for someone who could use some cheer, hold a door open for a stranger, just be there for a friend when they seem down, or compliment someone. All of these are ways that give back to the community and could make a big difference for someone.
I remember being at a shopping center and watching a couple of kids hold open the door for customers at a local store. They were waiting for their parents to finish checking out, but instead of playing around between the two sets of doors to get into the store, they decided to hold the door open for customers. This went on for several minutes. They waited for customers to come so they could do something nice for someone else. Customers would say thank you and smile. It was a perfect example of how a small gesture can make a difference for a stranger. Every so often that difference has a greater impact than we will know, but knowing if it does or doesn’t make a big difference is not the reason for the gesture. Just knowing that we did something nice is why we perform the act of kindness. This is a perfect season to teach our students a variety of ways to give back to the community.
“At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It's about what you’ve given back” Denzel Washington
David Bodiker
Assistant Principal, Grades 3-5
