Guest Post by: Pat Genovese, HFH GLA volunteer & Kindergarten Teacher at Notre Dame Elementary
This year, it was very exciting to include our pen pals in India and the United Kingdom in our activities for Act! Speak! Build! Week. The Kindergarteners learned that their responsibility, as citizens, is to help those in need. We focused on the importance of caring and respecting all people in our world.
Our word of the week was adequate and we explored what adequate housing signifies. We discussed how to serve our community on many levels - in our school, neighborhoods and church. Students learned the importance of acting cooperatively to end poverty housing and recognized the right to adequate housing for all people.
Students' advocacy efforts included spreading the word within their school and communities. Our activities included making a t-shirt clothesline to communicate the need for adequate housing - we did this activity in partnership with our pen pals in India and the UK; writing an acrostic poem for the word home; making cards for new homeowners; playing Habitat Bingo; using coins to purchase "building supplies"; writing letters to our president and senators; completing a book - Everyone Needs a Safe Place to Live; charting our needs and wants; reading the Habitat book - Building Friends; and posting a class photo on the Habitat Photo Wall.
It never ceases to amaze me how compassionate and service-oriented children are - the Kindergarteners are truly motivated to advocate for adequate housing. We are writing a book, We Can Make a Difference, since students realize that even though they are small, they can still help make our world a better place.
For more pictures from Pat and her class, click here.
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Thank You, Pat, for inspiring the next generation of HFH GLA Advocates & Volunteers!Labels: act speak build week, act speak build week activities, adequate housing, Habitat for Humanity GLA, notre dame academy elementary, Pat genovese, world habitat day, youth advocacy
