“Why are we making a covenant at the end of the year?”
June 1, 2020 | Elizabeth Rachuri
A sixth grader asked this question when we were working to adapt our covenant to distance learning. I’m sure this thought crossed everyone’s mind. But as we discussed, it became evident that our covenant was missing something. Each day, as we discussed one section (forgiveness, thankfulness, uspstanding, respect, and acceptance), students expressed the need to add the same idea: Be sensitive to what is going on with others.
When we revised our covenant, we decided to add a section called “Empathy.” It reads:
Empathy
- Be aware of your surroundings and what’s going on in the world
- Be sensitive toward what people are going through
Sixth grade students are working so hard. They are handling this unexpected end of the year with maturity, grace, and humor. And empathy. I see many examples of the ways they care for each other.
- They help each other with classwork
- They remind each other to come to meetings
- They are patient with technical difficulties
- They study together
- They are flexible
It’s hard to finish strong, but they are! I hope we can all give our best for these last two weeks and then take a well-deserved vacation!
Related Stories
