We spent last weekend in our hometown which is always a nice treat. We didn't go for any particular reason and didn't have an agenda. We got our moms early Mother's Day gifts and ate so much delicious food. I hit the gym with my mom both mornings and did a little shopping. It was fun. I was ready for this weekend at home after two weekends away, though! I already cleaned my bathroom and paid bills. Now I am procrastinating on doing a much needed closet purge.
I'm in the middle of a big self-imposed work project. One comment from one student prompted the whole thing. A couple weeks ago I found out that one of my students does not have a toothbrush, but would use one if he had one. That's when my heart shattered for this little boy. It seemed such a simple thing. The irony is that I had a meeting with his mother not a week before where she reported that they had cable and an xbox (all told to me while her cell phone kept going off). There is money for cable television, but not a toothbrush?! Of course.
I marinated on what he told me for a few days. Then I put the word out on FB that I wanted to give all of my students a toothbrush in a goodie bag at the end of the year. That prompted an exchange with my hometown dentist which snowballed into a pile of stuff in my living room. The toothbrushes and toothpaste were donated by my awesome dentist. The rest -- snacks, toys, pencils, stickers, bubbles, chalk -- was purchased by me. The paper goodie bags were snagged from the work room at my school. So, over the next week I will put together about 50 bags full of some really good stuff. They're all even getting a summer speech program to work on at home for some extra practice before next year. It's been a labor of love and I still have a lot to do, but I feel good about it. Maybe one kid will be able to brush his teeth who couldn't before. That's worth it, right? Plus, I can't help but love these crazy kids that I've worked with all year!
No comments:
Post a Comment