I would like to say thank you to Lehua Elementary School 5th grade teachers Ms. Alison Yee and Mr. Daniel Taira and their amazing students who gave me a very warm welcome to their classroom this morning I was invited to speak to the class with regard to my experience as a writer, reporter and photographer.
The students are in the planning phase of a very ambitious Leadership Project that will focus on beautifying an area near their school campus that is filled with rubbish, abandoned cars and a lot of junk that is an eyesore and contributor to an unsafe environment. The students mission and purpose is to document their Leadership Project and write a story with the goal of gaining community support to come together and partner with them to make a difference in our Pearl City community through their 5th grade class Leadership Project.
After introducing the students to my new book Stuck on Aloha, and the hundreds of inspiring messages that are in the book that originated from the Messages of Life WALL at the Pearl City Shopping Center, I asked them to write their thoughts on post it notes to the following questions:
1. What does leadership mean to you?
2. :What will your project do for our community?
Mr. Taira wrote the questions on the board and the students were asked to post them on the board which they did, one by one. I asked if anyone would like to share their post it messages and their hands went up in the air. The students answers were very inspiring, intelligent, and from the heart. I was so impressed by their maturity and thoughtfulness for one another as expressed in their own words. They are concerned for the future and will build on their leadership skills that they learn today and contribute to bettering their world of tomorrow.
I left the students and their teachers with such a feeling of hope for the future that filled my spirit and guided me through the day.
I want to share a very special moment that I will never forget. As I was speaking to the students about shooting photos at their project site, I asked them to try and find something in the landscape that inspirational amongst the rubble. For example, a dirty old automobile tire with weeds and grass a few feet tall growing out of it, But, all alone in the weeds and grass, a beautiful flower shines though. A student raised his hand and asked me, what does that mean? I told him and his fellow classmates that the flower represents Hope and is a sign of beauty that is in all of us and everything. That their Leadership Project's efforts will deliver and fulfill for themselves and their community the same result.
As my granddaughter, who accompanied me today, and I walked past the school cafeteria towards the parking lot, she pointed towards a bunch of tires that were colorfully painted with pretty white flowers growing from its center. She asked me if that's where I got my idea of a flower growing from a tire that I shared with the students? I was amazed at the sight. It was the first time that I noticed the flowered filled tires neatly placed in the school landscape by cafeteria. It was a pure and positive message for the students that they will positively make a difference in our world. Hopefully as they leave the campus and head towards their project site, the flowered tires will lead their way and inspiration within.
Thank you for a very special experience that has just begun!.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]