Sandy Long’s Grade 3 class at Spul’u’kwuks elementary are working hard this week to raise money for the Canadian Red Cross.
After a very moving discussion about the Fort McMurray fire, the students wanted to help in any way they could and came up with the idea of trying to collect one loonie from each student in the school.
They were deeply concerned about the families who have lost everything, the wild animals and pets, the firefighters and the police officers.
As well, they wanted to talk about all the kindness that other Canadians were showing — people taking gas to stranded vehicles, people taking strangers into their homes, people handing out bottles of water along highways, people helping to rescue pets that had been left behind.
“This Grade 3 class truly internalized the phrase ‘Canadians helping Canadians,’” Long said. “Being a teacher who cares very deeply about trying to develop empathy in my students, I knew that this would be a wonderful project to guide the children through.
“Whenever one has real-life situations to use as teachable moments, one needs to grab hold of them and show the students that no matter what our age. Everyone can care and help each other.”
As well, the students were thrilled to learn that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged that the federal government will match donations.
As one student said, “You mean he’ll double our money!”
“Yes, I said, and a cheer went up in class,” Long said, adding that allowed the experience to be turned into a math lesson, as well.
Long said the students have produced posters promoting the fundraiser and are excited about spending the rest of this week collecting money for the Canadian Red Cross.
They were off to a good start Tuesday morning, collecting more than $1,000 on the first day of the campaign.
