LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Another school year winds down, and kids across Kentucky learned many valuable lessons across a variety of school subjects. One preschool class had a unique opportunity to learn about generosity.
“At the beginning of the year, I wanted to establish an atmosphere of giving and sharing and love and kindness,” said Carole Boyd, a preschool teacher at Walnut Hill Day School. “Part of that was to each other but also to our animal friends.”
Boyd’s preschool class only has two days left of school before summer break, but there’s one project they’ve been working on since last September.
“We want to get the animals their homes,” one student explained.
“Animals are sad when they don’t have homes,” said another student.
The class has spent the year raising money to benefit the animals at the Lexington Humane Society, learning an important lesson in generosity.
“This is what it's all about,” said Meghan Hawkins, director of community engagement with the Lexington Humane Society. “[The kids’] answers were fabulous. They weren't scripted and it just shows it comes from a good place. It comes from a heart.”
“There’s a little owl, and it has a lot of money in it,” explained a student. “I got some of the money from it, and I came to school and then I put it in the bear.”
The kids kept their money safe with Ben the Benevolent Blue Bear, their bank that sat in the classroom for the whole year. As the class brought in more money, there was only one true way to know how much money they raised.
“After we put the coins in the bear we shake it, so we can hear how much money it is,” a student said. “Everybody thinks it’s heavy but it’s not heavy to me.”
“It started out very, very light and a very, very soft sound when they would shake it,” Boyd said. “By the end of the school year it was very heavy for them to carry and had a very loud sound when they would shake it and it brought lots of smiles to everybody.”
The class brought in a total of $35.30 to donate to the Lexington Humane Society. As a thank you, Hawkins brought her dog, a former humane society rescue, to meet the kids. It was a teaching opportunity to show just how much the donations mean to the humane society.
“It doesn't matter how much they raise, it's just the fact that they wanted to do it,” said Hawkins. “They wanted to help out others, whether it's other people or dogs or cats, the fact that they want to be a positive influence on the community, it's great that it starts at four or five years old.”
If you want to join the kids in donating to the Lexington Humane Society, you can find more information here.
