Youth spread good cheer with anonymous messages

Students in Sarah Newton’s grade 5/6 class at BVE are spreading messages of joy and positivity around Revelstoke.

Each student folded a paper box with lid, known as a good wishes box, and wrote numerous kind thoughts and messages on slips of paper to be taken by people as gifts. Today, students from the class went into various businesses and service providers around town asking permission to leave a box on the counter.

“The kindness boxed are a highlight each year for my students,” says Newton.

This project is one of several utilized by Newton to teach her students the Golden Rule – treat others how you want to be treated.

“A few years ago, I thought about why exactly I teach, what the core essence and purpose of learning is,” explains Newton. “For me, it came down to wanting kids to be a force for good in the world. To be leaders in standing up for what is right, to be enabled to think critically and know how to navigate the world in a way that empowered themselves and others.”

To do this, Newton notes, students need to learn teamwork, how to think for themselves, how to see the other side of an issue, and how to spread kindness.

“We’ve made soup for the soup kitchen, learned about immigration stories, learned about the electoral process, bias in media, studied real life Canadian heroes, etc,” she says.

If you are in one of these establishments, take a slip of paper and enjoy the seasonal cheer being spread by the youth of Revelstoke.

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