2016 Education

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2016 EDUCATION MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY March 1, 2016 Page 39
students, who have relatives in
active service. For the others,
it was a moment to pause and
think about how others help us
every day.
“The letters the students
wrote were sent to Operation
Gratitude, who sent us back
a note about how the letters
would be inserted into care
packages that are sent to military
personnel all over the world.
This made the students realize
that their small act of writing
a simple thank you note would
impact someone else far away.
Freshman student Marissa
Horning commented that
focusing on heart skills “helps us
get more in touch with how the
rest of the world interacts with
each other.
By doing activities focused on
the heart, we can improve our
relationships with people. When
our relationships with others get
better, our own lives get better.”
Olympia students not only
demonstrate heart through
projects but also through random
acts of kindness. One example
of kindness was shared with
me from an opposing high
school girls’ basketball coach,
complementing our girls for
compassion repeatedly giving
the ball to a special needs
student from the opposing team
until she was able to make her
first basket in a high school
game.
We have even seen an increase
in the respect level amongst
students within our school. Our
students are making a special
effort to make our new students
feel welcome and develop a
sense of belonging.
Mykala Swindle, freshman at
OHS shared “it’s a good thing to
show our new students how they
fit in to the school. It makes
students feel special.”
Being successful in school and
life requires much more than
good grades, it requires you to
be a good human being.
Olympia High School principal,
Ed Jodlowski states, “The entire
school is involved in embracing
these concepts. We believe
that students must be able to
embrace kindness, belonging,
compassion, forgiveness, grit,
courage, and purpose not only at
this level, but beyond the walls
of Olympia High School. We
hope our students will grow to
be even better human beings
beyond Olympia High School.”
All in all, we all are very proud
of the Olympia faculty and
students for giving their heart to
others.