During Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) the generosity of our community was demonstrated in countless ways. We want to thank all of these fabulous donors who give us their time, talent, and treasure not only in October, but throughout the year. Every single member of our community has the ability to change lives and the students from Mrs. Skinner’s third grade class at St. Joe’s discovered that this month.
Mrs. Skinner’s class held a donation drive for our clients during DVAM and they walked the donations down from their school to us. They thought it was important to drop off the donations themselves because they wanted to learn more about the work that the WCA provides. These students stayed for a conversation with Bea on how their donations do make a difference, the importance of giving, and what the WCA works on.
Bea asked the students what they would say giving is and the responses that these third graders had is awe-inspiring. One girl mentioned that giving is when “you are using your gifts and your talents” to help others. While a male student responded that giving is “helpful and nice. You are doing a kind thing for yourself and another person”. The students mentioned that the donation drive was nice because they knew they were helping others and that made them feel happy. These children are learning that we can all make a difference that giving not only impacts others, but ourselves as well. It is when we are creating connections with others that we become fully involved within our community.
These were curious third graders who wanted to learn more about the t-shirts they saw hanging up in the WCA. One boy asked what the shirts meant and Bea described how they are part of our annual Clothesline Project where the shirts are painted by those who’ve been hurt by another person. This lead into a conversation on what to do if you see someone hurting another person and the ideas these students brainstormed were wonderful to hear. One mentioned how you need to tell someone you trust if someone is hurting you, while another said to find a teacher, a final student mentioned how you need to tell the person to stop because that is not nice to hurt others. These students are learning at a young age what it means to be an “upstander”. They are discussing among themselves that hurting others and making others feel bad is not allowed and if you see that happening you have to do something. We can all learn something from these smart and giving third graders. Thank you to Mrs. Skinner’s students for your donation; it truly does change lives.
