the gratitude project assignment :: dylan...

Our ongoing series of essays from Grade 8 students from Broadview Public School here in Ottawa.  I had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Viner and Ms. Krochmalnek's classes just before our Canadian Thanksgiving, to talk to them about *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful*. (Read more about that here.) Students were then given an assignment to interview a friend or family member about what they were grateful for, and to submit a short essay based on that interview.   I will be publishing a selection of these essays here on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  You will want to read these.  Seriously. These kids rock.

(Read Julia's essay here, Minseong and Judy's essays here and O'Dane and Evan's essays here.)

Now, let's see what Dylan learned on his assignment...

Interviewer:  Dylan

Interviewee: Steacy

Brief Biography:

My Mom is very close to me and we have had lots of experiences together. From some of these experiences, I've noticed that she has to make a lot of tough decisions like when she decided to go to teachers college and become a teacher even though she would have to work much more often. I thought about it and I knew that she had to have made some decisions that she’s really grateful for. That is why I chose my Mom for this project.

Question:

What decision are you most grateful for?

 
1.      My Mom's first decision that she is really grateful for is her decision to join the purification challenge when she was young. This was a group of kids that had to run a certain amount of distance every week. By doing this challenge, my Mom figured out that she was a good runner and she joined cross country and had a lot of fun. She stills enjoys running now and it is one of the reasons she can stay fit.

2.      Another decision that my Mom is grateful for is her decision to work when she was in university. She is grateful for this decision because this helped her pay for school. She is also grateful for this because it helped her organize herself so she wouldn't just party with her friends every night.

3.      The last decision that my Mom is really grateful for is her decision to go to Europe with her sister for 2 weeks in 2010. My Mom is grateful for that decision because even though she was away from her family for 2 weeks and it cost a lot of money, she was really glad because it was very interesting seeing all the foreign countries and exploring the world.  She also had a lot of fun.

Conclusion:

Upon reflection, I think that my Mom was really thinking deeply about my questions and taking them seriously.  My Mom wasn't very resistive of my questions and answered them without any pushing. I think that my Mom was running out of answers by the last example but I do think she was grateful for the decision.

 

I can connect with her first decision, since my soccer team has to run 3 kilometres every practice for the past 2 years. This I am grateful for because now my dad, Mom and I go for after dinner runs sometimes for fun.  If I hadn't been running, I wouldn't have learned to enjoy it and would be missing the great family talks we have on our runs.

the gratitude project assignment :: minseong... judy...

Our ongoing series of essays from Grade 8 students from Broadview Public School here in Ottawa.  I had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Viner and Ms. Krochmalnek's classes just before our Canadian Thanksgiving, to talk to them about *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful*. (Read more about that here.) Students were then given an assignment to interview a friend or family member about what they were grateful for, and to submit a short essay based on that interview.   I will be publishing a selection of these essays here on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  You will want to read these.  Seriously. These kids rock.

(Read Julia's essay here.)

Now, introducing Minseong and Judy...

Interviewer:  Minseong K.

Interviewee: Tarik

Brief biography:  He is my French teacher.

I have known him for a 2 month now.

I choose him because he is a good guy talk to.

Question:  

What life experience are you most grateful for?

Answer: 

Learning how to cook

Reasons for his answer:

1. he got to learn about various cultures and discovered their food
2. he got a lot more creative then before
3. he thinks it is a great opportunity  to be a chef
4. HE LOVES COOKING!!!!

Conclusion:

Up on the responses, I think he loves cooking and I like cooking myself so I think he is cool with me and he is also a good cook because I have tasted his food before and I know that he works hard to be better and better so I think that is something that you can be grateful for...

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Interviewer:  Judy S.

Interviewee: Ghada

This person is my mother; I have known her my entire life.

I chose her because she is my inspiration and idol.
An interesting fact about her is that she has a strong personality and determination.

Question:

What decision are you most grateful for?

Answer:

The decision I am most grateful for is leaving Lebanon to come to Canada.

I feel like my kids are safer.
Better education.
Cosmopolitan atmosphere.
 
Reflection:
I can’t agree more with my mother. Bringing us here to Canada was a great decision. I’m so grateful for her decision. The political situation in the Middle East is so bad. A war might erupt any time, which means we could have been in great danger and lack of education.

the gratitude project assignment :: julia...

Today, I am thrilled to present the first of several essays from Grade 8 students from Broadview Public School here in Ottawa.  I had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Viner and Ms. Krochmalnek's classes just before our Canadian Thanksgiving, to talk to them about *the gratitude project: dare to be grateful*. (Read more about that here.) Students were then given an assignment to interview a friend or family member about what they were grateful for, and to submit a short essay based on that interview.   I will be publishing a selection of these essays here on the blog over the next couple of weeks.  You will want to read these.  Seriously. These kids rock.

Let's begin with Julia...

Interviewer:  Julia L.

Interviewee: My mother                                                                             
 
Bio: My mom Mariam, born here in Canada with a French and Lebanese background, is a 43 year old single mother and she is the single most spectacular person I have ever met. She is brave, caring, strong, loving and even though she has been through so much, she always manages to have a smile on her face. I think she is a very interesting person and has lots of great experiences and memories. I love her with all my heart.

Question: What life experience are you most grateful for?

Answer:

Example 1)

“Being a mother to my spectacular, bright, beautiful children.

I am grateful to have all of them in my life:

Adam - My brilliant, health, strong son. Who loves electronics and designing machines. He is very athletic and loves a good joke.

Julia - My determined, strong and ambitious eldest daughter. She loves animals, especially farm animals and is very busy with sports and music. I love the way she cares so much about others.

Rebecca - My artistic and imaginative youngest child. She loves nature and has a very special connection to the natural world. She is very beautiful and can paint like Vincent van Gogh.”

Example 2+3)

“My travels in Europe and my everlasting friendship:

I went to Belgium for 3 months, spent the winter in Northern Ireland, then went on to Scotland, England and France. I travelled with my best friend Janice from high school. I love history so I went to lots of old war rubble and castles and ancient houses. I met many interesting people just like me, traveling within a budget trying to make some memories. Me and my friend Janice were friends all through high school and after we got back from Europe I moved out to Alberta and we lost touch for 20 years. Now that I'm back here in Ottawa we are just as close as we were before. This just shows we were meant to be friends forever. :)”

Conclusion:

To be honest I thought all my mom’s examples would be cool stories from her travels in Europe, but to get that story out of her took a great deal of work. All she wanted her answer to be was motherhood, and her three kids. I chose her because she is a very interesting person so I thought she would give an interesting answer but she was stuck on the one example. She said “I could win all the money in the world, visit the coolest, most beautiful place on earth but nothing could make that first example change.” The life experience she is most grateful for is and will always be, being a mother. Out of every memory, every laugh and every moment she is most grateful for us. Me, my brother and my sister. I was a bit surprised when she told me that considering how stubborn, mischievous and expensive we are ;) 

 

Her second/third example took a lot of work to get out of her. I thought the fact that she worked all through high school to go on this trip and she actually did it all on her own was very cool. The fact that she went to all these countries so young with just a friend shows her independence and she made lots of good memories while doing it. My favorite part of her response is how she managed to stay friends with Janice for this long. After 18 years of separation they became friends just like that when we moved to Ottawa really shows me how people really can be “Best Friends Forever”.

 

I connect to this because my biggest fear of high school isn’t the homework, the mean teachers, or the bullies. I’m scared of me and my friends not being friends anymore and I know new is good but sometimes you just want old because sometimes old is better. I don't want to lose my friends and this story of my own mom and her best friend shows me how it is possible to keep your friends, and who knows maybe me and my current best friend will still be friends in 20 years.

 

Who knows?