The We Day Club from Spruce Ridge School has found a way to keep meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thirty-six young people are part of the club this year. Members have been gathering online through Microsoft Teams each Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. They have actually been meeting more often since the pandemic forced the suspension of traditional classes in Saskatchewan in March; earlier this year, they were meeting once every two weeks.
“The first thing they did just shortly after we started the online learning, they decided they wanted to paint rocks with messages of kindness and support, and then the majority of the rocks have been placed at the Estevan Regional Nursing Home, just in their flower beds,” said Jody Copeland, a learning support teacher at the school who leads the club.
Some of the rocks were designed for front-line healthcare workers, so Copeland hopes they will see the messages as they enter or exit the nursing home.
“Little things can go a long ways sometimes.”
A few other rocks have been placed at locations around the city.
Some of the girls have been writing positive messages on sidewalks, so that when people walk by, it will put a smile on their faces.
The We Day Club also received a $1,000 Kindness Grant from SaskTel just before traditional classes were called off.
“All of the We Day kids wrote positive messages on a pencil, and delivered them to all 400 kids in our school,” said Copeland. “They were all personalized. That was the first step of spending that grant money, so we have half of that left.”
The pandemic did force them to postpone their second biennial We Day concert, scheduled for Spruce Ridge in June, which would have been a miniature version of the We Day gatherings they attend.
So they will organize a We Day at the school for 2021.
“They’re going to do some pre-planning for next year and see where we’re going to go for it,” said Copeland.
They’re also going to look at a program called Happiness Happens, in which they will try to come up with some ideas to spread happiness within the school. And find ways to spend the Kindness Grant in the school.
Copeland believes it’s great that they’ve been able to meet online and discuss their projects.
“We don’t have everybody from our club, obviously, that are online all the time to be able to access the meetings, but the ones who do come are enjoying it, and still playing their role in how we can make Estevan and Spruce Ridge a better place.”
