My daughter Laura has invited her younger sister Nina to team up with her in helping to make a difference during the holidays again this year. I will selfishly admit that I have been eagerly awaiting this second challenge since LAST year, because our family has an incredibly good time keeping up with all of the amazing things that people do. There is nothing like beginning and ending each day in December with messages from people all over the globe who are acting in such optimistic and selfless ways. It fills every member of our family with gratitude. So thanks to all of you who plan to hang out with my kids during this month. All sorts of people participated in Laura’s December challenge last year, and for those of you who may be teachers, please think about joining Working Together 2 Make a Difference as well–you can document the great things your school is doing there and meet other educators and students who are doing wonderful things for others.
Theresa Gray brought tears to my eyes this morning, and I was thrilled to cyber-meet Chris Whitbeck as well. I stumbled upon his blog last night as I was moderating Laura’s comments and checking her stats. Wanna hear a small world story? Chris may be a middle school principal in Acton, Massachusetts, but he grew up in Depew, New York. I’m an instructional coach at Depew Middle School this year, and I’m working with Stacy VanEtten and her kids, who are working hard to make a difference too. Chris also went to school in Amherst, where I taught for ten years. His header photo has him positioned in front of Niagara Falls, so I emailed him to ask if he was local. He was, but he isn’t anymore. He happened upon Laura’s blog through Will Richardson. Thanks, Will!
Happy Holidays everybody! Ours are off to a heart-warming start. Many smiles here on the second of twenty five days to make a difference. I can’t wait for the girls to get home from school.
1 Comment
I hope your family’s hearts are filled with happiness this month Angela. You all deserve that, as do so many others who put other people and causes before themselves. December is a wonderful time for so many reasons, particularly here in the Southern Hemisphere as we head into our long break for the summer.