Much to my surprise when I turned on the television this morning I found CBS’ Sunday Morning program profiling a 5th-grade class from a Minnesota elementary school that took matters into their own hands to make sure ALL kids were able to enjoy recess, no matter their physical abilities. I gotta admit, you might need a tissue when you watch the segment.
The classroom is located inside Glen Lake Elementary in Hopkins. The kids in Betsy Julien’s class noticed that students with physical disabilities, out at recess were limited in what activities they could participate in. The school had no “wheelchair merry-go-round, swings, or other adaptive playground equipment whatsoever.”
What’s really awesome to see is that not having these pieces of equipment for their classmates “bothered the kids in Ms. Julien’s class, to the point where one day they asked her if they could just buy the equipment themselves.”
The kids after being told by Ms. Julien the equipment was expensive, like $300,000 expensive, started collecting pop tabs, calling businesses for donations and going door-to-door in the community soliciting money for the project.
And do you know what happened? They raised that money.
They still are raising funds, not just for their school to get more inclusive playground equipment, but also for other schools in the district too.
What a great bunch of kids, and what a great lesson that they have helped to remind us adults and teach the other students at the school. That lesson? Treating others with kindness and compassion.
Something that we all need to remember from time to time. Kindness and compassion.
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