Stepping through the front door of the Schoolhouse this month, our students, faculty, parents, and guests are being greeted by a growing gallery of colorful hands. From afar, the hands wave together joyfully to welcome us to the community. As we get closer, the hands beckon us to take a closer look.
From both perspectives, far then near, we are offered messages on the importance and responsibility of being a helper in our community.
To populate the display, students and faculty have been invited to consider how they are helpful within the BDS community. Then they “lend a hand,” by decorating a paper hand and writing about how they are helpful. Zooming in, we can see that even the smallest hands and gestures can make a big difference in someone’s life. Be it opening a door, pushing in a chair, escorting a hurt friend to the nurse, delivering snacks to the Kiva, passing out papers, sharing a book, bringing out the soccer balls for practice, or picking up trash around Big Blue, we all have a part in being helpful in our community.
Zooming out again, we see the collective power of helping. We see how those small actions add up to something much larger. The individual acts coalesce to become a culture of caring.
As we head into the holiday season and our thoughts move toward giving of ourselves, we hope this display also serves as a call to action. What are the ways, big and small, we can care for others? How do we show respect to our classrooms, playgrounds, and gathering spaces? What responsibility do we have to our neighbors and our planet?
So, when you next visit BDS, please take a moment in the Gallery to be inspired by the caring and responsibility of our students and faculty.
Here are some ways that you and your children can together experience the joy that comes from helping others:
- Share outgrown clothes with a local charity.
- Plan a garage sale or lemonade stand to benefit your favorite cause.
- Draw a picture for someone.
- Pick up trash.
- Make a get well card for someone who’s sick.
- Help your family make dinner.
- Participate in local run or walk for charity.
- Hold the door open for someone.
- Help a sibling with homework.
- Collect aluminum cans, then donate the money to charity.
- Bring flowers to a local nursing home.
- Make warm scarves to donate.
- Shovel snow or rake leaves for a neighbor.
- Pet sit for a friend.
Have a great weekend, everyone! Happy Veterans Day and our deepest gratitude to all who have served.
