Amazing kids!

At the beginning of the school year I received an email from Randall STEM Academy saying,

"Our 2nd/3rd graders are doing a unit on Community. Their final project will be for them to work in small groups and carry out a service project to help the Waukesha community and be good citizens. 

We are looking for representatives from Waukesha area service groups to come in and explain what the group does to help the community and how kids can be involved (either now or in the future)." 

Of course I went and talked to the kids and had a really fun time talking about HAWS and what we do here.

A few weeks ago I received another email from the teacher saying they were holding a service expo and that the students would like to show the representatives from the non-profits what they had done.  I attended that expo on Wednesday.

As I walked into the media center I saw that groups of kids were surrounding tables that were labeled with the name of the non-profit that the group had chosen to help.  I walked past several tables looking in the sign that said HAWS, and started to wonder if maybe none of the groups had chosen us for their project.

As I came around one of the tables I looked up at a doorway leading into another room and saw tabled the the door frame "HAWS".  We didn't just get a table, we had a whole room because about 8 groups of kids had chosen us!   I was immediately touched and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the desire that so many 2nd and 3rd graders had to want to help the animals of Waukesha County.

I approached one of the groups and introduced myself and asked to see their project.  They were thrilled to see me, excited to show me the video they had created to promote their project, and proudly presented me with a plastic baggie, telling me that it held $43.00.

As I spoke to the next group I started getting tugs on my arms with children from other parts of the room asking me to come see their project.  I assured all the students that I was planning on visiting every table.  Every group of kids was proud of the video or slide show they'd created, and even more proud of the results, since every group had collected items from HAWS wishlist.

I hear sometimes that kids today are being raised to be selfish and materialistic.  I think the Randall STEM 2nd and 3rd graders prove that just isn't true. 

Below is a video I created for the students.  Our staff and volunteers truly appreciate their hard work!