we CAN make a difference

my students dont have much. they dont wear expensive clothes or shoes or accessories. the clothes they do wear arent always clean and are hardly ever new. their parents dont have flashy cars. some of them dont even have jobs. they dont have houses, theyre lucky to live in an apartment way too small for their family. their mouths drop in awe whenever i tell them i have tickets to a sporting event. they dont go on vacations. some of them arent even able to afford a class trip. most of them dont have supportive families. like i said, they dont have much.


before this turns into a sob story, thats not why im writing. theyre incredibly strong kids. theyve seen and been through things ill probably never experience in my lifetime. they arent all living in squalor with nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. there are children out there, much too close by to think about, that are way worse off than mine. and apparently, my students know that. 


the past two weeks have been the school canned food drive. we "can" make a difference. everything gets donated to a local shelter, where unfortunately, some of my students have stayed in the past when times were rough or their family was in between homes. at the beginning, i challenged them to give back. to realize that there are people out there who need it more than they do. i talked it up in many different ways and nothing seemed to get through. then one day last week, dk brought in cans. a couple dozen cans. he said "i told my ma what you said, miss l. about other people needin a helping hand and how good it feel bein the ones to give it to em. she said youre real nice. and she wanna help." needless to say, i cried. and i realized something. i was asking these kids to give when they barely had anything to give, but where was my contribution? i was all comfortable standing up on my soapbox asking them to help out others, but was i? so last tuesday i told my homeroom id match the amount of cans they brought in. 


there are currently 98 cans sitting in my classroom. the drive isnt over until friday. my kids already told me that its okay, its way too much to match. but a deals a deal. and if these kids, who have barely anything can do it, then i can shell out whatever it costs to match their cans. yea, we win a pizza party or something. but i think what will be most meaningful is the looks on their faces when i bring in about a million cans on friday. people let them down everyday. i refuse to be one of those people.  ive also planned something special for friday afternoon. they love being read to. stories, poems, articles, anything! so during our end of the week homeroom meeting (responsive classroom approach), im going to read them one of my favorite quotes. it has definitely rang true for me in the past, but because of these kids, its literally now giving me the chills....


"for attractive lips, speak words of kindness. for lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. for a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. for beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day. for poise, walk with the knowledge that youll never walk alone. 
people, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed. and redeemed and redeemed and redeemed. never throw out anybody. remember, if you ever need a helping hand, youll find one at the end of your arm. as you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands. one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." -- audrey hepburn