Showing compassion with poems and artwork

By Shana Bode

To join the O Ambassadors Club at Shepardson Elementary, students were asked to demonstrate their interest and commitment by answering the following question: “Why do you want to become an O Ambassador and take action to make the world a better place for all children?”

We asked the students to utilize their individual strengths and talents to express themselves. Therefore, they could answer the question by writing an essay, short story or poem; drawing a picture or creating a sculpture, singing a song, performing a dance or short play; or they could meet with a teacher to talk about their ideas.

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The responses were wonderful. We had touching pictures drawn of children helping other children, we had two sisters perform a skit about their desire to change the world. The students also responded with many thoughtful written and spoken words about why they wanted to make a difference and how they were grateful for their blessings.

The students expressed frustration about inequality and the desire to bring smiles to children around the world. The students who applied believe they can change the world, and we are very excited for our club to start in January. Below is a poem one of our students wrote in response to our question. We hope it inspires you and your students as it has inspired us

“I Can Make A Difference”

By Evan, 4th Grade

I walked home from school, and outside it was cool.
Snow laying on the ground, not making a sound.
Well, as the wind sang, I felt a small pang.

Hey! I have a warm home,
I wear warm mittens and a jacket.
At home, I have a tennis racquet!
...lots of toys,
...a Jack-in-the-box,
...a few action figures,
...a few wooden blocks!

Some people out there are colder than me,
If the world could only see…
On the streets!
There may not be people with jackets.
On the streets!
There are no tennis racquets.

I pushed it out of my mind and thought back to school.
Where the desks were all lined in rows.
“Now, class…This is how it goes.
You take the tricky, hard, mathematical test,
turn it in, and I’ll do the rest.”
She passed out the papers through the desks, row’ed,
And after that, the entire class groaned!

But now I realize, when the whole class ranted,
They were taking school for granted…..

I tried shoving sadness out of my head,
but it just kept coming back instead!
My feet were tired, but I was almost there,
and then a thought gave me a scare!
3… 5 miles, some kids had to walk
and here I was starting to balk!
Some kids have to walk that far just to get a drink!
My, that would really stink!

My mom greeted me at the door.
And she sure thought I looked real poor!
“Hello, honey, how was your day?
Do you have anything to say?
EEEK!
Look at you! What did you do?!
You were out in the cold!
Ooooh! I’m not feeling bold!

You have a runny nose!
Rosy cheeks! Your toes are frozen!
EEEK! EEEK! EEEK!
You could catch
Hypothermia!
Psychovandermia
Snoycolitis!
Freezingtolitis!
Ooooh! We need
Motrin… Tylenol!
Who knows what more?
Sudafed… Cough Drops!
Is your throat sore?”

Soon, I was taking antibiotics galore!
They don’t have these things, some places, I thought.
They could die from the fever! Just getting too hot!
I watched TV to have some fun,
I am glad I can afford one…...
My thoughts wandered to MLK,
thank goodness he peacefully fought to make things okay.
Everyone’s not equal, they used to think.
It matters if your skin is Orange, purple or pink!
I’m glad they realized sooner than later
that some ancestors were simply born near the equator!

Everything now had reminded me
that I want the world to see, see, see!
Everything I’d thought about came together.
To solve all this stuff it’ll take forever!

Poverty, education,
medicine and rights. More!
... and to make things better,
I will fight! I will roar!

We’ve got to take action!!
In any way we can!
We’ve got to take action!!
Let’s think up a plan!

...and I have realized, ever since,
I can make a difference.
I
must
start
today.