Bringing Meaning to the Holidays-A PROUD Educator
As educators, we witness incredible things everyday, but today, I think I witnessed something I would have never imagined being a part of....
My coworker and I took up co-advisor roles of our chapter of the National Honor Society when we were approached by students that asked us if we'd do it. The school year was quickly approaching, and the position wasn't filling. How can you say no, when students ask you? We honestly didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but we quickly realized there was no turning back, and we were going to get our moneys worth out of it. Our goal as a chapter was to give back and to service the local community, while other clubs and groups at school service areas both nationally, and internationally.
The service projects took off for the year and the creativity of our students was incredible. One service project that our students headed up was an Anti-TP War drive to collect toiletries for the local women's shelter. There was a Toys for Tots drive and a blanket drive (to collect money and make fleece blankets to donate). These are just a few of the projects that we started the year with.
There was one project though that stood out among the rest. One of the teachers at school shared with my co-worker a story about one of our district families that was experiencing tough times, as the mom and daughter were in a very serious car accident, and medical bills were piling up. This was an unforeseen event and the family was struggling financially. We brought this up at our monthly meeting and immediately, we had a group of students that wanted to help. The final project proposal was a dance to raise money for the family. There were a few dances proposed this fall, but out of good fortune ours for NHS was accepted. My coworker and I had never hosted a dance before, but we saw this as our opportunity to learn. The group of students in charge of this event did everything to prepare, and they kept us close in the loop as to what was going on. Our President/VP asked our NHS membership of over 180 students to participate to make this a success. Students that couldn't make it to the dance donated their time during their lunch period pre-selling tickets to the dance, while other students that couldn't make it dropped off cases of water to donate for concessions. Early in the week leading up to the dance, we had only pre-sold a handful of tickets and I was approached by an administrator that asked if we should reschedule the dance. I had confidence that it would workout and I decided it was best to go through with it. The kids worked really hard and I didn't want to take this away from them.
As expected the dance was a success. In admissions and concessions, we raised enough to cut a check to the family for $1200! Apparently this was a lot more than the typical dances raise. We were so proud of the work of this group. Word got out in what we were doing, and Elves at the district office put together gifts for the two girls in the family. They were wrapped up in big boxes for them to open on Christmas. This truly was a community effort!
I had the opportunity this Christmas Eve 2012, to meet the leader of the service project at the house of the family to deliver the check and some small gifts for the mom and two daughters from Santa. The mom was overwhelmed and shed tears as she accepted the check and gifts for the family. This year has been a tough one for them and she could not believe the support from both friends and the community. I was a bit overwhelmed myself. I wish the teacher that had first informed us of the situation could have been there to present the check and get a hug as well, because if it weren't for him, we would have never been able to help.
There are a few take away messages that I took from this experience:
1. The holidays are not about gifts. It doesn't matter how much you give, its being together that means the most on the holidays.
2. Teaching is all about relationships. It is our role as educators to get to know our kids and find out what's going on at home. Teaching is much more about the content and this reinforced the fact. Teachers serve the role of mentors, leaders, servants, advisors, and friends.
3. As educators we need to work together on a united front. Not all of us are going to be able to reach each and every one of our students, even though we'd like to. We need to do this together as a collaborative effort. Today that was evident. If the student had never had that conversation with her teacher, we would have never found out about the family's situation and we wouldn't have been able to make the difference that we did. We need to take the time for these intentional conversations!
4. Some of the best educating occurs outside of the 6:45-2:45 school day. I cannot describe the personal growth that I have experienced in the first few months as National Honor Society Advisor. I could not be more proud of what our students have done. The constant communication, emails, project proposals, and fundraising forms, are worth the effort. We truly are MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
My coworker and I took up co-advisor roles of our chapter of the National Honor Society when we were approached by students that asked us if we'd do it. The school year was quickly approaching, and the position wasn't filling. How can you say no, when students ask you? We honestly didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but we quickly realized there was no turning back, and we were going to get our moneys worth out of it. Our goal as a chapter was to give back and to service the local community, while other clubs and groups at school service areas both nationally, and internationally.
The service projects took off for the year and the creativity of our students was incredible. One service project that our students headed up was an Anti-TP War drive to collect toiletries for the local women's shelter. There was a Toys for Tots drive and a blanket drive (to collect money and make fleece blankets to donate). These are just a few of the projects that we started the year with.
There was one project though that stood out among the rest. One of the teachers at school shared with my co-worker a story about one of our district families that was experiencing tough times, as the mom and daughter were in a very serious car accident, and medical bills were piling up. This was an unforeseen event and the family was struggling financially. We brought this up at our monthly meeting and immediately, we had a group of students that wanted to help. The final project proposal was a dance to raise money for the family. There were a few dances proposed this fall, but out of good fortune ours for NHS was accepted. My coworker and I had never hosted a dance before, but we saw this as our opportunity to learn. The group of students in charge of this event did everything to prepare, and they kept us close in the loop as to what was going on. Our President/VP asked our NHS membership of over 180 students to participate to make this a success. Students that couldn't make it to the dance donated their time during their lunch period pre-selling tickets to the dance, while other students that couldn't make it dropped off cases of water to donate for concessions. Early in the week leading up to the dance, we had only pre-sold a handful of tickets and I was approached by an administrator that asked if we should reschedule the dance. I had confidence that it would workout and I decided it was best to go through with it. The kids worked really hard and I didn't want to take this away from them.
As expected the dance was a success. In admissions and concessions, we raised enough to cut a check to the family for $1200! Apparently this was a lot more than the typical dances raise. We were so proud of the work of this group. Word got out in what we were doing, and Elves at the district office put together gifts for the two girls in the family. They were wrapped up in big boxes for them to open on Christmas. This truly was a community effort!
I had the opportunity this Christmas Eve 2012, to meet the leader of the service project at the house of the family to deliver the check and some small gifts for the mom and two daughters from Santa. The mom was overwhelmed and shed tears as she accepted the check and gifts for the family. This year has been a tough one for them and she could not believe the support from both friends and the community. I was a bit overwhelmed myself. I wish the teacher that had first informed us of the situation could have been there to present the check and get a hug as well, because if it weren't for him, we would have never been able to help.
There are a few take away messages that I took from this experience:
1. The holidays are not about gifts. It doesn't matter how much you give, its being together that means the most on the holidays.
2. Teaching is all about relationships. It is our role as educators to get to know our kids and find out what's going on at home. Teaching is much more about the content and this reinforced the fact. Teachers serve the role of mentors, leaders, servants, advisors, and friends.
3. As educators we need to work together on a united front. Not all of us are going to be able to reach each and every one of our students, even though we'd like to. We need to do this together as a collaborative effort. Today that was evident. If the student had never had that conversation with her teacher, we would have never found out about the family's situation and we wouldn't have been able to make the difference that we did. We need to take the time for these intentional conversations!
4. Some of the best educating occurs outside of the 6:45-2:45 school day. I cannot describe the personal growth that I have experienced in the first few months as National Honor Society Advisor. I could not be more proud of what our students have done. The constant communication, emails, project proposals, and fundraising forms, are worth the effort. We truly are MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
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