Tomorrow is our first big shopping day. We will take our Student Council kids out to several stores to shop for Wishes. I always say there's no such thing as a secret in a middle school so we take great care to be sure that each name and wish are unknown to our student shoppers. The index card above doesn't look like much but the code 6-3 means something to Anita and I and the item the kids will shop for is a bag of Sour Patch Kids candy. But this card means so much more. It means a kid took the time to make a wish for another kid and they knew them well enough to know what candy would make them happy. Some teachers read that wish and it was written in a way that it caught their eye and they made that bag of candy a priority. Then someone donated money so the candy could be purchased. A kid will shop for it, an adult will check it out at the store, it will be sorted at school, and then taken to our wrapper who wraps each wish with great care. Then it will be sorted again then one day it will be delivered. At some point when all the wishes are wrapped and before they are delivered it will be prayed over. So what looks like a simple bag of candy on a notecard is really so much more. Some wishes may have a heftier price tag but the same process will happen for each wish whether it's a low cost or high cost item. An equal amount of love, care, and concern goes into every single wish that is granted.
It is our hope to try to reach and teach our student shoppers as well. We put them in teams. Typically a 6th, 7th, and 8th grader are on each team. We teach them to comparison shop but also to think about what product a fellow student would like to receive. We try to teach them to be good stewards of the money we have raised and to find joy in shopping for others. It should be a great day and a day we try to do small things that maybe will somehow make the world a better place. It sounds like a lot but we have the world's greatest kids.
Yesterday I had cafeteria duty. It's a job I dislike. Throughout my 19 years in education I have listed it as my most unfavorite task. But somehow some of the most memorable moments of my career happen while I'm on duty. For instance early in my career, like year 2 or 3, I saw a kid 25 feet away step on a mustard packet and I saw that mustard fly in super slo-mo across the room until it landed splat on my brand new dark green suede jacket. I remember that moment but that's the least profound memory I have over the years of lunch duty. Back to yesterday, as I was walking along the long tables I saw one kid out of over 300 and thought to myself did I put that one on the list? One of my favorite partnerships we have with Winter Wishes is with Crossroads Baptist Church. They do an Angel Tree and always ask the middle school for names to put on it. What we learned last year is that our kids through their wishes give us a good indication of who might need a little extra love during the holidays. The church goes all out finding things kids want and need. We turned in some names earlier in the week and I thought I turned this student in. But seeing her in the cafeteria my mind immediately wandered is she on the list. I pulled out my phone and checked the email to see if she made the list. She hadn't. I sent an email to our counselor and asked her to add this student. This kid wasn't on my radar but she had been put on my heart. I don't believe in coincidence but I do believe in listening to the still small voice and I do believe in answered prayers. That's why we pray every night for the right students and wishes to be placed on our hearts. Because missing one that has a need or just needs encouragement in our book that would be failing. We don't want a single need to fall through the cracks. So if you sre reading this and are of the praying type please join us in that prayer.
I should sleep. Tomorrow will be a big and fun day.
Melissa E.
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