Kids' Giving Program Submissions
October Submissions
One of the themes of the company’s 100th anniversary Giving Program is “100 years and innovating.”
This year we’ve had to find innovative ways for kids to go back to school – and how kids have fun has changed, too! With that in mind, the questions for kids are:
If you’re in school, how has going to school changed this year? What’s different? And what do you like AND don’t like about the new way of going to school?
For kids of all ages (school-age or younger), how do you like to play? What are your favorite things to do for fun and why? Do you love riding your bike, skateboarding, playing sports, cooking? Bonus points for telling us about any favorite NEW activities!
Yi En Neo (6-8)
I have to wear a mask to school. We practice safe distancing in school and I'm separated from my friends by a table shield. There are no more excursion trips organized by the school. What I like about the new way of going to school is my teacher is coming up with creative things for us to play. What I don't like is that I have to wear a mask all the time except when I am having my nap in school. Because it is not comfortable to wear a mask.
John Wilbert Santosa (9-11)
Since last April, I studied at school by learning online, every day I study online with my PC computer, including sports subjects. I like online lessons because I am at home every day, but I can't meet and play with my school friends and my teachers at school. That makes me sad and miss seeing them. After the online school is over, in the afternoons I sometimes go cycling or play badminton with my sisters around the house using a mask.
Faviola Juarez (15-17)
Hello my name is Faviola Juarez, I'm currently a junior at Lone High School. On campus classes officially started back up October 28th. When I first arrived at school, I noticed many different changes that were put into place. Starting with the way you get into the school building. It is much different than what I remember. Everything we do is done in a single file line, with a mask, and 6ft apart. To be let into the buildings, we have our temperature taken every morning and are given hand sanitizer. Then we can walk to class, but we have to stay on the right side of the hallway 6ft apart in a single file line. There are many more rules that I can list, but these are just a few to put it into perspective. However, I agree that these rules should be put into place to keep us all safe, but at the same time these rules are affecting my learning. I'm not getting that same fun learning experience that I used to get. Now it's all about these rules I must follow. Going to school just doesn't seem like it's about learning anymore. On the bright side, I'm very happy to be able to see all my classmates and friends again. Some of my favorite things to do for fun is play basketball or volleyball. I love playing both of these because it just frees my mind. I just get so focused on the game that I forget everything else. These are both activities I have going on after school as well. One new activity I picked up on is baking. I started to make cookies, pies, and macaroons and just fell in love with baking.
Navya Choudhury (9-11)
Dylan Hunt (12-14)
School is very different this year. First, we have to wear masks all day long. I don’t like wearing masks because it’s hard to breath. Second, we only have one special class a day. I love the days I have PE, but I don’t like the days we have music and library. Another thing that has changed this year is that we can only play with our homeroom class at recess and I have friends I want to play with in the other sixth grade classes. We also have to sit in our assigned seats all day long. When I’m not at school I like to play video games and talk to friends. My favorite game is Rocket League. It’s a soccer game, but instead of people there are cars. The newest thing I like to do is play with my new dog, Jett. He is a 2-year-old border collie mix and we rescued him from the shelter. I love when he gives me kisses and I like playing tug-of-war with him.
Sachi Banerjee (6-8)
Hi, I am Sachi Banerjee from India. School for us has started online which is fun loving, but we are all prone to technology much more than before. The creativity of knowing what is going around you is much less. I play at my home and love reading novels, ride my bicycle and colour some pictures of cartoons. Everything has changed due to this pandemic. The activity which we used to do in school has been closed and even meeting friends in the playground has been restricted. I miss my school and friends a lot and miss playing with them.
Joshua Jr. Hansen (3-5)
I like to play with my cousins and play with toys. Things I like to do for fun are: eating and cooking, the climbing dome, the swing set, jumping on the trampoline, and doing school. Also visiting grandma and Uncle Chris at their house and going to church. I love cooking and riding scooters and bikes. I also like to draw. I ride a bike all by myself! (Learned this year). And I like reading a book.
Vera Hansen (6-8)
Actually, we changed to a whole different curriculum. It’s the Weaver curriculum. Also, I get to do Teaching Textbooks on the computers now, and I was already homeschooled. I’m also in third grade now so everything is getting HARDER. We also do recess now. My favorite way to play is with my two cousins BFF’s, Aelea and Norah. I LOVE going on the big trampoline with them. I do like to ride my bike too. I taught myself how to ride with no training wheels, I also showed Aelea the basics, but she basically taught herself too.
Eve Hansen (12-14)
Eve Hansen 10/19/2020 Wilbur-Ellis October Question Since the lockdown came, everyone started to homeschool; but my family was already homeschooling! Even though the difference wasn’t as drastic for me, there were still lots of changes that came my way. My parents had signed me up for an art class with a homeschooling co-op, which got cancelled during the quarantine. I also was no longer able to have my friend over on Fridays for us to practice American Sign Language together. Not being able to have my friend over was frustrating and inconvenient, because we were used to getting together all of the time for learning and practicing drawing, cooking, baking, song and poem writing, and sign language. Doing all of those things by myself has been a bit different than what I was used to, but I have still had fun learning and creating new things. After everything else was locked down, things were pretty different, but I’m kind of shy and really introverted, so getting a break from big crowds didn’t bother me at all. Now that things have been opening up in our county and city, though, I am glad that the lockdown is almost over.
Zheng Yu Cheah (6-8)
I couldn't go to school for some time and was learning via Google Class at home. Now, I have to wear a mask to school, but I am happy I can go to school now. But, there are viruses still and I can't play with friends. I have to keep distancing with friends and no sport class. Still, I am happy I can go to school. I hope the virus goes away and everyone is safe, so I can attend class of basketball and Wushu.
Valor Hansen (3-5)
I like to play fight and do Kung Fu Panda fighting. I like to ride on a pretend motorcycle and I like to be strong by pretending to do this. I can see my muscles getting bigger. My favorite things to do for fun are play with my mom and playing Halo with spit balls. Well, also, the thing about playing Halo with spit balls - the spit balls get the bad guys. I like to skate on ice, and I like to do school, and color. They are my favorite, maybe because I like them. A new thing that I really like to do is putting on costumes and making comic books. You color stuff and you can use a tiny stapler or big stapler and staple in three spots and that's how you make a comic book!
Jay Hansen (12-14)
Hi my name Jay. Like my sister, Vera, I had switched to the Weaver Curriculum. My old home school was called Monarch it was very hard! In fact, at the halfway point we switched from Monarch’s math classes (they tried to make me do something like x - 8 = y?) to Math 6 it was nowhere near as hard! After I finished that year I did another with Math 6 at Monarch. At the end of that school year we decided to switch to the Weaver Curriculum and stick with the same Math classes and I had graduated to Math7!! The new Curriculum is hard, but it's at least 100,000,000,000,000 times easier than Monarch! What I like to do for fun is playing with toys and playing with my brothers, Valor and Joshua. When outside I prefer to play on a trampoline and on days with no wind I get in to a t-rex costume and wave to cars. One of my favorite NEW activities is to wait until the tots go to bed then play a game called Among Us. It's a game where you have to find out which person is the alien.
Pax Hansen (9-11)
I like to play LEGOs with my brother. Jay and me like to play games where I’m a big monster and he has to stop me. I also like to draw comics and doodle pictures. LEGOs are fun to play with my brother because we’re able to build cool imaginary creatures and robots. I like to play the game where I am the monster and Jay has to stop me a lot because it’s a game I made and it’s really fun. I like making comic books because they turn out really funny. I’ve been practicing on my drawing for a while so it gets really cool. The new thing that I have found fun is this new software for 2D animation. I am able to express my imagination in a tiny cartoon world.
Atharva Kulkarni (3-5)
I am studying in UKG. This year school is very boring, as I have to attend school online. I can't meet my friends and teachers, play with sand, run around, no annual gatherings & no eating lunch and snacks together. The only thing that I like in the new way of school is that I don't have to stay in day care, as my Mom and Dad stay with me all the time.
Charis Chew (3-5)
Ethan Hunt (15-17)
The main thing that is different about school is how few people there are every day. At my school, half of the students attend during the first part of the week and the 2nd half of the students attend during the 2nd half. It isn’t great not being able to see half of your friends because they are in the 2nd group. Another big change is mask-wearing. Mask wearing is now mandatory and social distancing is very important to keep yourself and others safe. One of my favorite things to do is hang out with my friends after school. We ride our bikes together and sometimes go to a local McDonald's and getting something to eat. One thing I have recently really started liking is cooking. I recently started trying to learn how to cook food for myself.
Hammad Ahmed (9-11)
This year I started school in September with remote learning, so now my bedroom is my new classroom. It's a significant difference from a class full of twenty-two kids to one small learning space with only one student in it, which is me. Although I'm missing the fun of being with my classmates, I still perceive this new method of learning as an opportunity to get more familiar with technology along with academics. In online school, I'm not able to have recess, attend PE classes, get to meet my friends in-person, and eat lunch together at school. I believe this remote environment cannot substitute these activities for me. Looking from a different perspective, an advantage of online schooling is that I'm becoming more skilled with computers. Now I'm more proficient in using tools like Teams, OneNote, Outlook, OneDrive, Sway, Canvas, Flipgrid, etc. On a positive note, remote learning is helping me develop my independence and organizational skills. My favorite sport is basketball and, due to the pandemic, my parents bought my brother and me a basketball hoop, and we play in the backyard. Due to Covid-19, one new activity I learned is playing chess and checkers with my older brother since going outdoors has been restricted for a while. I hope this COVID-19 leaves us soon!
WE ARE ONE (HUNDRED)
As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we launched the Giving Program to help people in need worldwide. In total, the Giving Program raised $52,000 USD for the Red Cross, building on the company’s $100,000 donation in 2020.