When a class of Wakelon Elementary second-graders began to ask a lot of questions about the earthquake in Haiti, teacher, Marta Whitehouse used the teachable moment to help them grasp concepts in geography and social responsibility. Students located the island of Haiti on a map and used the map scale to measure the distance from North Carolina to Haiti. They found it was approximately 1,421 miles.
In discussing their concerns for Haiti’s children and their needs, the students began to brainstorm ways they could help the victims. The students remembered when they had brought their bears to school to support the Hugs Not Drugs program and how they had discovered that most felt better when they could hug their bears whenever they had unpleasant things happen to them. That was when several students came up with the idea to collect stuffed bears to send the children in Haiti. They decided to call it the Hugs of Hope Program. The children prepared speeches to share the project with all school’s teachers and students and began to create collage posters to display throughout the school encouraging others to get involved. Collections took place during the month of February. The NC Baptist Men left for Haiti on Feb. 25 with the stuffed animals and plans for distributing them to children.
Students in Marta Whitehouse’s class at Wakelon Elementary display the stuffed animals they collected for children in Haiti.