A few weeks ago my aunt watched the Oprah episode where she gave everyone in her audience $1000 to spend on someone else who needed a little help. She was so inspired by the sentiment, that she decided to send myself and all my cousins $200 this holiday season to spend on someone who needed assistance during this season. My husband and I both felt the pressure to make sure it went to just the right place and we could not decide on where to donate the money.

I got the idea of asking my eighty-five eighth grade students if they wanted to be involved. I am lucky to teach at South Middle School in Braintree and I was hoping that my students would be receptive to joining in. I came into class recently and told them about where I had gotten the money and how I didn't know what to do with it. They got really excited and started shouting out ideas of what I could do. I was so overpowered by their enthusiasm that I decided wherever the money went, it would not only be a donation from myself and my husband, but it would also be from every single one of them as well. This got them more excited than I had ever seen them! Their homework that night was to write down a few ideas and bring them into class the next day. I looked through all of their suggestions, came up with the top five, they voted, and the overwhelming majority went to one charity. My students decided that the Dianne DeVanna Center for Abused Children in Braintree would be the perfect place for us to share this gift.

We began this idea with just the $200 from my aunt. It quickly grew with donations from my husband and myself, students, parents, and other faculty members. We collected checks, gift certificates to grocery stores and restaurants, and any money the students could spare. We finally ended up with $1,580.30!!!!

I feel privileged to work with these students every single day. Eighth graders get a bad reputation for being selfish and loud and self-centered, and sometimes they are! But the students I know and the students that I get to spend my days with are giving, caring, and generous. They embraced this idea with open hearts and wanted to help families that needed some assistance this holiday season. I hope that they graduate this Spring remembering how filled their hearts were when they helped other children who needed some comfort. I am so proud to work in a community where giving is a part of the culture.