From Struggle to Success
What is the role of community in overcoming challenges?
Photo Credit: Young & Old by Benny Raemdonck is licensed under CC by 2.0
This unit explores the value of philanthropy in our world and shows students how struggles in life can be turned around and lead people to success. Through writing about and sharing their struggles with each other, students discover their personal passions for giving and that they are not alone on the path of life. Students research philanthropists on the Our State of Generosity website who have paved the road from struggle to success.
Author: Katherine Roberts
Students learn from examples of people who have experienced a struggle and used surrounding resources to make something better for themselves and the people around them. Examples of "servant leadership" are taken from the Our State of Generosity website.
Students edit their memoir drafts, adding dialogue and figurative language in this guided writing session. This lesson will help students realize that struggles they experience in their lives often lead to a new understanding or lesson learned. Students will reflect on how their experience impacts others. They will use this realization to identify how they can address needs in their own community.
Students follow the example of philanthropists who impacted their community by cooperating rather than competing. Students identify their own giving passions and cooperate with each other and a community organization to plan a project. Examples of "cooperative philanthropists" are taken from the Our State of Generosity website.