Baskets for Moms
During the pandemic, the 6th grade Gold Team Teachers from Castle North Middle School in Indiana collaborated to help their students complete several service-learning projects. The team set up clear steps and Zoom lessons to virtually guide students through the service-learning process. All of the students were motivated to make a difference. Each student identified a need related to the stay-at-home order, conducted research, planned a project, took action in their community, and created a reflective report. In total, Castle North Middle School students completed 118 service-learning projects between March and May 25, 2020! This is one of them.
For the project Baskets for Moms, Jocelyn learned that the moms in her neighborhood were stressed with keeping up with their simultaneous responsibilities as parents and employees. To alleviate some of their stress and provide support and encouragement, she created bags filled with goodies for parents and activities for kids to do.
Jocelyn included an encouraging note which made the bags extra special and personal. One recipient wrote, “Thank you so much for my sweet gift the other day. The kids are grateful for your kind heart too!”
The bags brightened the day for several of her neighbors and family friends. Especially at a time like the present, Jocelyn reflected, “It feels really good to see joy in people's faces.”
Consider using the Service-Learning Toolkit to Grow Kindness for a list of service project ideas and resources that are designed to spark ideas for actions related to kindness and good deeds.
***Here are directions to a Simple Safe Service project from home: Let our essential workers know we care with kind messages of thanks and gratitude. Let moms or working neighbors know how much you appreciate them and the work they are doing to keep the community safe.
