The 8th grade Friends of Rachel Club has taken action! On Tuesday, March 6th, the 8th grade Friends of Rachel Club (F.O.R Club) conducted a fundraiser called “Hands that Touch Hearts” that raised money for good causes. Each student and teacher was able to go down to the bulletin board outside Middle School French Teacher Ms. Stephanie Guillet’s classroom during their lunch period. Set up outside was multiple colors of washable, non- toxic paint. After a dollar contribution, students dipped their hand in the paint and made a unique, colorful handprint. Members of the school would sign their handprints, which overlapped, symbolizing unity and strength, as well as tolerance and acceptance of all members of our school community. Seventh grader Cartie Werthman was a participant in the activity.”It was a creative way to combine charity and art. I thought it was really thoughtful,” said Werthman.
This activity was not put together for just placing your handprint on a wall. This was a way to start a chain reaction of kindness and compassion, the F.O.R Club’s goal. The inspiration for this activity was the story of Rachel Scott. She was the first person to die at the Columbine High School shooting. Through the Friends of Rachel Club middle school students have tried to spread kindness all around our school, making it an enjoyable place to come to every day. Rachel once wrote, “These hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott and will someday touch millions of people’s hearts.” This activity was based on those words. Everyone’s hands are placed overlapping each others to show that we care about each other in Dobbs Ferry Middle School.
By having the people of our school place their handprint on the board and hearing the story of Rachel Scott, more people were inspired to donate a dollar and contribute to the success of this event. Seventh grader Sam DeCarlo was another of those inspired. She commented, “It was a good “hands”on way to get kids involved in helping with charity.”
Over all this was a very successful, heart touching activity that made an impact on our school. More people have been motivated to be kind and friendly to one another. Hopefully this compassion will continue for a very long amount of time, spreading from the school to our community
“People never know how far a little kindness will go.”
-Rachel Scott
