I've got my class busy on their next undertaking - fillling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, which is a project of "Samaritan's Purse". Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 24 million boxes to children in third world countries. The idea is to fill them with dollar store items (or better, if you can afford to) like personal hygiene items, school supplies, or small toys. The items might look small and not quite sufficient to North American eyes, but they're headed off to some child who may live in dire poverty, or in a war-zone, and those same items will be viewed as treasures when the box is opened. I've seen the video from Samaritan's Purse several times now because of showing it to my class each year to kick start the collection of items. It doesn't matter. Every year, it breaks my heart again to see the circumstances of some of the children receiving the boxes. Every year, I cry my way through the video, and every year, my school kids come through for their less fortunate counterparts. I suggest to the kids that they take the money out of their allowance, or make a deal with a parent to do some chore in exchange for cash - like vacuuming the whole home, or doing the dishes for a whole day. Today, I dismissed my kids at the usual time and less than half an hour later, two of the girls were back, with proud smiles and a bag each, filled with purchases that would be the first to go into a box. Yeah, I spend a lot of my time in that classroom being frustrated, or annoyed with those kids, but a time like this is so wonderful. I feel so proud of those kids! Whatever else there is to be said about the downside of teaching, it sure does have its up side, as well.

Did I mention before that I'm a teacher? Split grade 7/8. You've got to keep yourself in fighting trim to survive! Anyway, let me share a story with you. I registered my class in "Kids Voting", a program designed to help them learn about the democatic process of elections as they are carried out here in Ontario. It all culminated with our class being assigned a polling station number and being sent a real ballot box and ballots marked with the names of the candidates for the riding the school is in. We read articles in the newspapers, researched and discussed issues and wrote letters to the local candidates. On voting day, those kids took it all so seriously, it was great to watch! We elected a Deputy Returns Officer, and two poll clerks. We set up a desk behind a screen in the store room as the place to cast the votes, and then we started. Some of the kids stood there at the desk, taking their time and thinking so carefully before marking their ballot. One of the girls stood for the longets time, deliberating, before suddenly turning to me and saying "Please remind me ... what's the difference between the Liberals and the NDP?" When all the votes had been cast and counted, the results were announced, and the winning candidate was given a spontaneous round of applause. The next day, several of the students told me they had asked to go with their parents to see the "real thing" and some of them even talked their parents into going when they had said they weren't going to bother. I felt good about the whole thing! Now, I just have to cross my fingers and hope that they'll remember all this when they reach voting age. I hope that they exercise their democratic right, instead of falling into the apathy that resulted in only 52% of Ontario's voters actually making it to the polls this October.