Increasing Cultural Awareness and Fostering Humanitarian Efforts

The world is constantly changing. The best curriculum for children is real life; based on reality. Connecting students to their communities is something I deem important. Children inherently want to make a difference and there is no better means then through serving. Increasing cultural awareness and fostering humanitarian efforts through natural disasters brings the world closer and children quickly realize how small the world really is.

Walden’s commitment to creating change connected with me. It was The Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership’s Mission Statement that caught my attention when making the decision to enter graduate school. Walden “…provides access to high-caliber programs that prepare the adult learners as scholar-practitioners and leaders who can inspire, influence, and impact their diverse communities by helping to meet the challenges and opportunities of education worldwide.”

Volunteering is a way of life for me and something I believe should be introduced to children at an early age. Connecting children to their community through positive, meaningful volunteer activities promotes learning through active participation and fosters a sense of caring and a deeper understanding of self.

Six years ago I implemented a service learning club in our school. Kids Care Club consists of 55 fourth and fifth grade students with a desire and compassion to make a difference in the world. This club has successfully completed a number of projects. Each year we make and deliver blankets for the Women and Children’s Coalition for the Homeless. In April we held a Playathon to raise money to purchase tents for earthquake ravaged Haiti. Our current project is Read and Feed, where the school is collecting food items and new books to donate to homeless and poverty-stricken children in our local community.

When I am not teaching in Florida I am teaching in Africa. The most recent trip was to Cape Town, South Africa working and teaching in Khayelitsha Township…home to 2.5 million people living in squatter’s camps. Teaching children in classrooms so incredibly different from our own awakens the mind in ways one can never imagine. While there the local community of Khayelitsha asked for my help in educating children about service projects. Can you imagine the poorest of poor children, rooted in squatter camps, being asked to share their voice, their minds, their gifts and talents to help their community...to serve others and make a difference? Not only can I imagine it, I witnessed it. I quickly formed a relationship with two outstanding teachers who have huge hearts and the desire to make a difference in their township and helped them start South Africa’s first Kids Care Club.

Developing scientifically-literate and compassionate citizens through the study of natural disasters is not difficult, and one in which I believe effective teachers commit themselves to. We are all connected. Allowing children to see how one voice, one act, can make a difference regardless of one’s age.