SMILE On!

Miss Lori

“At holiday time many people speak of ‘Charity’. What is your definition of ‘charity’ and how do you think it is best taught to young people like yourselves?”

Abi age 10~
Charity to me means giving to those who are in need.  My family gives toys and clothes to different charities several times a year.  I give to charity through my school during the year.

Tess age 9~
Charity is when you do nice things for people. This year we are GIVING Santa gifts, like some hand-warmers to keep him warm.  They teach us to be good to others in school, and at my temple. My mom especially is always telling us we have to do things for others.

McKenna age 11~
I would define charity as helping people who don’t have much at all. Like volunteering your time to help the needy. I try to get as much volunteer work in as possible. I’m in a club at school that is specifically for volunteer work. If you don’t have any clubs at school, you can do anything to help your community. Make dog treats for a local dog shelter, make blankets for a local nursing home. Practically anything! The best part of volunteering is that you get this great feeling afterwards, a feeling like I just made these people happier.

Elita age 9~
To me charity means to give as a good deed. It’s important because then we will learn to do it and tell our kids. And it will keep going on and on!

Kyra age 11~
Every Thanksgiving, my family and anyone visiting us all receive three pieces of corn dry, colored corn. Then a bowl is passed around the table, and we say something that we are thankful for for each kernel as we place them in the basket. It’s a great way to remember our blessings. This year, my family and I are going to the McDonald’s Thanksgiving day parade for the first time, and since it is the first time I’ve ever lived in a big city, it’s the first time I’ve ever been to a big Thanksgiving parade. I would like to start doing that every year.

Ava age 11~
Charity means that you give from the heart to the less fortunate. The way I learn about charity is by helping a group called Hephzibah Children’s Home.  I think that it is best to bring it up by talking to kids saying that you can make a difference by helping people.

Jaedyn age 6~
Charity is helping people that can’t help themselves. I know Mckenna cut her hair and donated it to make wigs for people with cancer last year. I donate my clothes to the Salvation Army. That’s a charity.

Miss Lori

“With the economy as it is, unemployment at an all time high, violence in schools and H1N1 on the minds of everyone who sits next to someone who is coughing or sneezing, stress levels are high for parents. But it’s also high for kids too. What is stressing you out these days, and what do you do to deal with it?”

Abi age 10~
I stress about schoolwork a lot. I deal with it by asking my parents for help and practicing things that I have trouble with.

Sinead age 17~
As a high school senior applying for colleges, I am most stressed out about preparing for the future! It becomes very surreal when you start seeing deadlines for college applications. I never thought the day would come, but here I am applying for college, deciding what I’ll be majoring in, and getting ready to leave my family and venture out into the “real world,” all on my own!! I began questioning whether I am ready or not to make my own dinners, or make sure I’m up on time for classes every morning, or do my own laundry! I know most 17 year olds won’t agree with me, but if it were my choice, I’d take my mommy and daddy along with me to college in a heartbeat! It doesn’t help that all my friends talk non-stop about college; where they’ve applied so far, and where they’ve gotten in or been rejected! Every high school senior across the nation that is preparing for college feels the same way right about now! As an aspiring performer, I will also have to complete auditions for programs at different schools, which will ultimately decide whether or not I am accepted, and whether I am granted scholarships. Which is also very important. (Hey! College is expensive!) The future holds a lot for me right now, and I’m just trying to prepare myself… if it’s possible!

Tess age 9~
Sometime I get stressed—like when our school was giving out vaccines. I was trying to decide if it was good because I am scared about needles. The economy stresses me out because my family doesn’t have money for things, and I worry about that because sometimes I want things, but those aren’t needs.

McKenna age 11~
Well, I feel scared sometimes when I know my parents are spending a lot of money on me with dance. I get scared that they’re spending a little too much sometimes. I also am scared that with the flu going around that I’m going to get sick. I’m starting the new school year out great; good grades, making a great impression on all my new teachers. I don’t want to get sick and get loaded with makeup homework. I’m not as scared about getting H1N1 though. It seems kind-of weird, I know, but I’m just not as worried about it as anything else. I’ve heard H1N1 isn’t the nastiest flu around, so I’m not as scared about it. Also one of my dance instructors and her son just had H1N1 and they’re fine. So, I’m not that scared at all. One thing that’s been on my mind is cancer. You see one of my favorite, youngest teachers I ever had just died of breast cancer. She was diagnosed with it just as soon as school got out, so I had no idea that she had cancer until a couple days before she died. I saw her a couple weeks before she died, after her Chemotherapy I later found out, and she looked and acted fine. Apparently she was feeling fine until a couple days before she died. She went to the hospital Halloween weekend and then, November 1st, she died. She was so healthy when school got out and then that happened. So I ‘m afraid of getting cancer, (even though it’s very rare), or getting really sick.

Elita age 9~
I, as a girl, am going through troubles with friends, siblings and growing up in every way; maturity, achievements, and other places

Kyra age 11~
Plenty of things are stressing me out, and some of them are the same things that concern my parents, such as H1N1 and business. But a lot of them are more related to girls my age, especially things like being embarrassed. I deal with troubling issues in plenty of different ways, by praying about it, asking my parents and youth group leaders about it, and reading books about it.

Jaedyn age 6~
Not feeling well, and my brother and sister fighting stresses me out. So I cuddle with my Mommy.

Ava age 11~
Everything that I’m doing, including homework stresses me out. To help me calm down I just take it one day at a time.