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Students serve Seasons House with Kindness Bags

Carson Elementary School staff teach students important value: ‘Be Kind’
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An important value that is emphasized at Carson Elementary School is to “be kind.”

The kindergarten and grades 6/7 classes recently extended that kindness to the community with a thoughtful service project.

The idea started with kindergarten teacher Rose Bright, who recognized a need for a growing homeless population in Quesnel.

“I was cleaning out my closet and realized I had several extra purses and bags. I remembered a project I had heard of, where people donated bags pre-packed with essentials, such as winter gear and toiletries. I thought maybe I could get a few bags collected for Seasons House.”

She put a post on Facebook, asking for donations of small toiletries and winter items, such as gloves and toques.

“The response was overwhelming, not just from friends and family, but also local businesses and people who contacted me from Facebook. Within days, I had over 1,000 items, ranging from hand cream to granola bars.”

Bright enlisted the help of her kindergartens’ big buddy class to get the project completed. The grades 6/7 big buddies found positive quotes about kindness and perseverance, while the kindergartens drew pictures. These quotes and pictures were placed into the clear pockets of each bag. The buddy classes then filled the bags with toiletries and winter items.

Once the bags were complete, the classes set up a day to deliver the bags. The students walked over from Carson Elementary School with the bags and delivered them to Seasons House.

The project was an excellent opportunity to teach students about service and kindness to the community, homelessness, and the challenges faced when being homeless.

Ava Manning, a Grade 7 student involved in the project, said: “What I thought was valuable was the little kids, the kindergartens, got to learn about helping people less fortunate than them. Hopefully, when they will grow up, they will remember they should help people.”

The response of the kindergartens does show that they did learn a valuable lesson about helping others. “I felt happy because all the people who don’t have food and lots of things would be happy,” said one. Another said: “I felt happy because now they have stuff they can use for the winter.”

“This was a heart-warming example of service for our city’s homeless population,” said school principal Angelina Gauthier.

“I appreciate our teachers who teach our children social responsibility, and show that it is easy help others with a little time and effort.

“I especially liked the positive quotes and pictures the students included on each of the bags. It shows they value kindness and wanted uplifting messages on the bags for those who will receive them.”