The spirit of compassion filled Room 606 at Minarets High School. Teacher Wendy Swanson’s Community Day event filled participants with the need to spread kindness and compassion to those who currently are unable to receive full holiday spirit. Holiday and New Year’s cards were handmade by the students to send to active soldiers overseas via the Red Cross and to the homeless in the San Joaquin area. Swanson chose this event because she personally knew many soldiers that were deployed and did not return the same way they left. She describes her motivation as a “[want] to show love and gratitude with them…[and] for them to understand that we appreciate them.”
Materials for these cards were provided by Mrs. Swanson. Decorated paper, colorful writing utensils, fancy-cut scissors, stamps, and glitter were all used to create these festive cards. Additionally, students were tasked with finding inspirational quotes that would lift the recipient's spirits up. This task was taken seriously by the students as many found quotes with decorated backgrounds which were then printed and attached to the card.
For junior Emilio Zarate, this event was close to his heart as he “has family in the military and past family” who were also in the military. Zarate hopes to make the recipients feel special around the holidays. Students thoroughly enjoyed the project and hope to have a small part in making someone’s day. Sophomore Rayann Avila especially enjoyed making cards. Her creativity shone through her different designs on the cards. Junior Maegan Redman enjoyed the creative freedom that this event gave her. Redman also enjoyed writing nice messages within the cards.
Swanson’s and the students’ goals were all in sync as they all wanted to spread a message of positivity. As Redman put it: “bring[ing] up all the people who are less fortunate than us.” The inspirational quotes that were found played a big role in spreading this message of positivity. Swanson summed up the overall message of the Minarets Community Day when she stated that “having compassion for others is one of the greatest feelings we can experience.”