This week we visited a wonderful group of students in Fall River, at the Fonseca Elementary School. All are members of the “Community Club” an after-school program led by mentor extraordinaire, Josh Amaral.
Josh invited us to visit with his social entrepreneurs and young philanthropists on their last club day of this school year. He had organized a recognition ceremony and there would be cake!
Photos from our visit are here.
At the beginning of the semester, club members wrote their ideas down on sticky notes and posted them on the board.
The group voted on which ideas they felt would have the most impact and could be completed before the end of the school year. Ideas were plentiful, but the group all agreed on a clothing, toys and books collection drive.
Students then divided their tasks and went to work. Some created posters for the school’s hallways, some made flyers to be sent home to families and some wrote speeches that we delivered over the intercom with the school’s morning announcements. Many of the students worked on more than one task.
We think that what these children did was more than amazing. It was caring, it was loving and they truly are a bright and shining light focused on giving and service! We also think that they are a most perfect example of what is possible when the right teacher, mentor, parent or adult volunteer invests the time and does the work. We all agree that we owe Josh a heartfelt thank you for his commitment to fostering the right kind of values and all the hard work and time he spent with these students!