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Eleven year young Birke Baehr recently delivered this extraordinary talk at TEDxNext Generation in Ashville, NC. You can watch many other young presenters all of whom give us reason to be optimistic about our future. May their voices be heard and celebrated and their ideas implemented.
From AOL, Susanna Baird Contributor
Super Cooper does possess a guileless enthusiasm, a proper red superhero’s cape and an open-book approach to reporters not usually found in men of steel.
He readily told AOL News about his latest act of derring-do-good.
“We saw someone next door and we said hi. And we gave him flowers. And we tell him he could come to our school.”
AOL News managed to extract the name of Super Cooper’s favorite fellow caped crusader, Eliza, before Super Cooper handed the phone to his preschool teacher and returned to his toys.
Cooper Spataro, 3, and his classmates at Missoula Community School in Missoula, Mont., are “superheroes of kindness,” performing weekly acts of good will that include cleaning school windows and delivering paper flowers to residents of an assisted living community.
Teacher Kristal Burns came up with the concept after discovering Laura Miller, aka Secret Agent L.
Miller, whom AOL News profiled in August, performs frequent small acts of kindness using her secret agent pseudonym, leaving small notes and treats in public places for passers-by to discover. She encourages others to embrace the random good deed and to share their under-the-radar benevolence anonymously via her website.
“I was intrigued,” Burns said. “We were talking about how wonderful it would be to teach the kids to do that. At the same time, we love superheroes and we want to be superheroes, but superheroes often hit and punch. Why don’t we be superheroes of kindness?”
The kids loved the idea, even after Burns explained that they would not be fighting bad guys; even after she told them that they could not “fly” on slick ice, only on dry pavement; and especially after a crafty parent fashioned capes for the entire class.
Burns’ students, who range from 3 to 5 years old, most recently took part in the mission Cooper described, an idea Burns concocted when a shop opened in the neighborhood.
“There was a new store that moved in called Upcycle that takes recycled materials and turns them into bags. We welcomed them into the neighborhood and asked them if they’d like to come in,” she said.
While the superheroes’ acts usually benefit those outside school walls, one of the primary goals of the kindness effort is to encourage development of empathy, sometimes in short supply among preschoolers who don’t want to give up their truck, their doll or their purple crayon.
Since the kids became superheroes, Burns has noticed a change.
“It has made a world of difference,” she said. Bickering is on the wane; helping is on the rise.
“We’re not telling them that they have to help someone who needs help, but now they just see it.”
Unexpectedly, the small superheroes have spawned adult sidekicks in their community.
“They’re getting these random letters from people. … Can we go on a mission with you?” Burns said.
“They’re not too small to make a difference. That’s been a really neat outcome of this. They’re just being their kind selves, and people are so thankful.”
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Another example
“I am a special education teacher in a primary school. I try to teach the children in my class about kindness and compassion. I reward random acts of kindness that happen in my classroom. When a student does something to help one of their peers, out of the goodness of their heart, I will acknowledge it and let them go in to my ‘kindness box’ to pull out a little surprise. The students get excited when someone is recognized for being kind and they congratulate that child for caring enough to help someone else. It is amazing how the children in my classroom are always well behaved and have a caring nature from just being kind.” — mpg85
The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action. –Herbert Spencer
Good News of the Day:
Parents want their kids and teens to care about others – whether at school, in their community, or in need a continent away. The good news is that children “are sort of hard-wired” to want to help others, says Michael Ungar, author of “The We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids.” “They want to take on responsibility.” From a second grade environmentalist to a 21-year-old peacemaker, here are profiles of five young people changing the world. [ more ]
San Diego eighth-grader donates teddy bears to sick children
NBCLosAngeles.com
In the home of eighth-grader Jason O’Neill, teddy bears are everywhere. They’re white, black or brown. Some have bow ties and some have ribbons. They sit on chairs, tables, counter tops and the floor.
Thanks to O’Neill, a young entrepreneur who started his own company at age 9, they’re all going to sick children for Christmas.
“At Christmas I wanted to do something special, so I started a fundraiser this year to raise money for buying a bunch of bears,” O’Neill said.
All of the bears will be given to children at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
O’Neill has been giving money to charity since he started Pencil Bugs four years ago. The company’s main product is pencils with hand-painted Styrofoam toppers designed to look like bugs. He’s sold hundreds of them in the last four years — and he’s also expanded his product line. His products now include Pencil Bugs T-shirts and greeting cards, and he’s working on a Pencil Bugs board game.
“In the beginning of my business, I knew that I was very fortunate being a kid and being able to do all of this, so I wanted to help other kids in some way,” said O’Neill.
‘Every little bit helps’
This year, O’Neill decided to donate more than money. He wanted to give less fortunate children something tangible for Christmas. He thought of teddy bears.
He began a fund raising campaign, encouraging children across the country to donate. He’s received more than $700 in donations. A group of students from Michigan sent him $119 from a bake sale. Other kids have sent only a few dollars.
“What I always say is that every little bit helps,” O’Neill said. “Those kids that just donate five or 10 dollars out of their own money, that helps and that will change somebody’s life.”
O’Neill and his mom are now busy tying special tags to hundreds of bears, each one thanking children for donating to make the project possible.
O’Neill is still trying to raise money on his Web site to buy more bears before the end of the month, the deadline for holiday donations at the hospital. (Ed note: Maybe NPD readers can help:)
“I haven’t had any big tragedies in my life, but I know that there are always people more and less fortunate that you, so it’s good to help out,” O’Neill said.
There are lots of things kids and young people can do today. Lots of distractions from the deeper needs of society. Zach saw a need and decided to do something about it and continues to use his compassion for others in service to his community. Zach definitely qualifies as a new paradigm kid and is inspiring others kids and young adults to devote some of their time to community service and in his own way, making the world a better place.
