Ok, I can hear you. "That sounds a little grandiose" you think. I disagree. Being able to see someone else as a whole person, and to care whether a person is in trouble, or is troubled, needs help, or at least a strong shoulder to lean on, is what we need to see in our schools, workplaces, and homes.
A kinder, more gentle world.
Thank you Valarie Strauss and Ruth Ebenstein!
Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials
How do you teach kids to care about something?
Here’s how one teacher does it.
Valarie Strauss, Answer Sheet
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| Leonard Donahoo, 74, who served in the Air Force from 1960 to 1962, opens a card from second-grader Amit Gottstein |
Much of the media attention in education today
is being given to President Trump, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and their
plans for education. Here, for a change, is a post about something completely
different, taking us back into a classroom and what students and teachers are
doing.
How do you teach children to do good — and to
really learn something authentic from the experience?
Carol Gannon, a fifth-grade general studies
teacher at Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor, Mich., has been doing it for years.
She’s employed project-based learning with a service component for nearly two
decades, working to inspire her students to reach out to those in need.
The curriculum works like this: Children
embrace a cause and then make decisions and problem-solve about how to help.
They raise money and then go beyond, leaving school and connecting with people
they want to help.
Here’s a post about a recent project by
Gannon’s students, who chose to reach out to American veterans. This was
written by Ruth Ebenstein, an award-winning American-Israeli writer, historian
and peace activist.
By Ruth Ebenstein
How do you teach your fifth-grade students to
care about something? How do you model reaching out to someone who could
benefit greatly from the human touch?
These are some of the questions that guide the
thinking of Carol Gannon, a fifth-grade general studies teacher at the Hebrew
Day School of Ann Arbor. She wants to impart to her 10- and 11-year-old students
the importance of service, the axiom of volunteering and caring for others. And
she wants to do so in an authentic way.
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| Teacher Carol Gannon and her fifth-grade class at Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor. |
“You cannot make teaching authentic unless you
do something that’s part of real life,” Gannon said.
On one recent day, the lesson plan circled
around one particular community: hospitalized veterans.
February 12-18 marked National Salute toVeteran Patients, a week-long tribute to hospitalized veterans at all of the
172 Veterans Administration medical centers across the country. More than
98,000 veterans of the U.S. armed services are cared for every day in
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, outpatient clinics,
domiciliaries, and nursing homes. One such hospital, the VA Ann Arbor
Healthcare System, is located just five miles north of the Hebrew Day School of
Ann Arbor’s campus. A major tertiary care referral center for veterans in the
lower peninsula of Michigan and northwestern Ohio, the facility serves more
than 68,000 individual patients a year.
Under the stewardship of the fifth-grade
class, the Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor had chosen this year to embrace
veterans in their community, and in particular, the neighboring VA
hospital. The fifth-graders had rallied the entire school community to
raise funds for gift cards to grocery stores, fuzzy lap blankets, T-shirts,
puzzle books, and food.
Students from kindergarten through fifth grade
wanted to honor the service of men and women with handmade cards, beyond the
traditional greetings of Veterans Day. And so the theme of authentic
learning spread through every classroom. All of the students knew that their
writing had a purpose: these cards were to be opened and read by real people.
Even the kindergartners labored over every letter, knowing that their words
would have an impact on someone else.
The children carefully chose words to capture
their gratitude for vets. Colored markers in hand, each student decorated his
or her personal message with image and color. The result was a homemade pile of
patriotism and appreciation. A love offering.
Selected to spruce up the white envelopes and
deliver the cards were the fifth-graders. They drew bright red hearts,
multi-colored peace signs, stars, rainbows and bright funny faces. They loaded
several cars with packages. As the children rode along a winding, tree-lined
street en route to the VA hospital, they discussed strategies for approaching
people they didn’t know. To whom should they give the cards? How should
they break the ice? Palpable was their excitement, nervousness, and
hesitation. Arms piled with packages almost larger than them, they shuffled
into the building, shy smiles on many faces.
Logos from all of the military units lined the
walls. All eyes turned to the white welcome banner hanging on the wall: VA Ann
Arbor Health Care System Welcomes Veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom, Troops, Veterans and Families. Out the window,
snow-capped evergreens.
“These veterans gave so much to our country,”
mused Yuval Gottstein, 10. He seemed to be speaking for all of them.
It was time to begin passing out the cards.
Evyatar Eliav, 11, walked over to a
wheelchair-bound man.
“Are you a vet?” asked Evyatar.
“I am,” nodded the man. Evyatar handed him a
card. Their eyes locked. They exchanged smiles.
“Thank you for your service,” said Evyatar.
The vet looked down at the bright-colored
envelope, eyes sparkling at the tapestry of color.
“There’s a card in there, too!” prompted
Evyatar.
And then there was a flurry of activity.
Children approached vets. Cards and more cards. Smiles and more smiles.
Wow! A handmade card! And
who sent these sweet children to brighten our day?
“The vet I met was so nice,” gushed Eliana
Adler, 10. “He reminded me of my Grandpa Jim!”
What was the story behind each vet? What
sacrifices had each one made to protect us?
After a while, all the cards were gone. The
care packages were all delivered. Every child’s face was flushed.
Back in the classroom, Gannon asked her
students to reflect on their afternoon.
“I enjoyed giving the cards to the veterans —
they looked (and probably felt) so happy and probably surprised to receive
cards,” wrote Samantha Caminker, 11. “I felt really proud to be spending time
with them.”
On the roster of lessons learned: how to
approach a grown-up you don’t know, how to raise money for a cause you believe
in. And also these: the importance of volunteering. The power of a handmade,
heartfelt card. The beauty and treasure of human contact.
The goal of the National Salute to Veteran
Patients is to increase community awareness of the VA medical center and
encourage citizens to get involved and volunteer. The students at Hebrew Day
School of Ann Arbor are getting a head start.
And now for an authentic learning lesson that
reaches beyond elementary school:
“Don’t wait for Valentine’s Day, Veterans Day
or any other special day to bring you in the doors of a VA Hospital,” said
Gannon. “National Salute to Veterans should be on our minds 365 days a year.”
That’s a good reminder for even this
middle-aged mom to keep our vets close to the heart.
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