I remember...

Dear Families,
If you are like me, you can probably remember exactly where you were and what you were doing ten years ago when you heard the disturbing news of what happened on 9/11. Despite the tragedy that day was for our country, in tribute this year on the 10th anniversary I would like our class to participate in the 9/11 Day of Service.
This September 11th, please join millions of others who are taking the time to adopt a charity, volunteer, donate, or engage in other charitable service work to help those most in need. It’s completely up to you to decide whom you’ll support and what you’ll do. This can be a great way to help your child learn at a young age that serving others is much more important that only serving ourselves.
Here are three simple ways to get involved:

1. Visit 911day.org and adopt a cause or charity for the day, or post a good deed that your family or child plans to perform in observance of 9/11.

2. Create a volunteer or charity service project with your family. There are literally thousands of things you can all do together, and a service project is a great way to teach your children about the importance of setting aside time to help others in your community. You can:


✩ Clean up a neighborhood playground, beach, or park
✩ Volunteer at an animal shelter
✩ Donate books and toys to a shelter

✩ Create homemade gifts for the residents at a retirement home
✩ Collect sports equipment donations for a youth group
✩ Volunteer at a food pantry

3. Contact local community organizations, schools, and faith-based groups to see if they have any service plans for 9/11. Then you and your family can volunteer to help.

On Monday, I would love for the students to share what type of service they did with the class. You may even want to make a poster or take pictures that your child can show the other students. I can’t wait to hear the creative ideas your families come up with. We would also like for all the students to show their patriotism on Monday by wearing red, white, and blue shirts to school.

If you are unsure how to talk to your child about the events of September 11th there is a wonderful video available at http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/september11th/ that talks about the events of that day in a way that is appropriate for children. Many of the children know that this day is important in our history but don’t understand why, and this video is a great way to teach them about the events of 9/11 nonthreatening way. I hope we can come together as a class to help rekindle the spirit of service and unity shared by so many of us immediately following 9/11.

Sincerely,
Miss Ellis