<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\nMusic plays as students, staff, and community members enter the gym for the all-school morning meeting. Fifth-grade students hold compassionate poses on the gym floor as the crowd assembles: a boy lends a hand to two friends, two girls comfort a crying friend, a boy listens to a friend in pain.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/JPhillipsVT\/status\/984803147444051969<\/p>\n
There is an energy in the air, a vibe of kindness and celebration.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/JPhillipsVT\/status\/984774535835680769<\/p>\n
Fifth-grade teacher Anna Nicholson kicks off the festivities. With the help of her students, Nicholson recognizes members of the MEMS community for their accomplishments, highlights top fundraisers for a campaign to raise money for mosquito nets, and recognizes April birthdays. All the while a row of community members sits in places of honor at the front of the room. They are the Compassionate Faces of the Shires.<\/p>\n
Each fifth-grade student stands and introduces the compassionate community member they have chosen to honor. They share examples of their compassion and quotes from their interviews:<\/p>\n
\n\u201c<\/span>I think compassion can change the world\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201c<\/span>I can give back to the community\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cEvery little thing helps\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen someone is in need, it\u2019s nice to know that I can be there to help them\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The whole school celebrates each compassionate community member with the ASL sign for applause<\/a> by waving their hands in the air, but sometimes they can\u2019t resist and they break out in loud applause anyway.<\/p>\nKindness, it seems, is contagious.<\/p>\n
What is compassion anyway?<\/b><\/h2>\n
This celebration was the culminating event of a six week long project-based learning unit on compassion. \u00a0Nicholson\u2019s class began at the beginning: by defining compassion and empathy.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/compassion-1-1024x691.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOnce they knew what they were looking for, they began to search for examples of compassion and empathy. \u00a0Enter books and media<\/a>! Nicholson started with a read aloud: Come With Me by Holly M. McGhee<\/a>. \u00a0Students worked together as a class to identify messages and evidence of compassion from the story. \u00a0Then they broke into smaller groups to explore books of their choice, looking for further examples of compassion in practice.<\/p>\n
![\"community-based](\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/community_based_learning.jpg\")
<\/a>How do your students recognize compassion? Do they recognize it in the faces of your community?<\/p>\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/zvanAGT-5OA\/maxresdefault.jpg\")