The benefits of providing students with opportunities to volunteer in service to community has a far-reaching impact -- not only to the recipient but on the students themselves. Giving back empowers students, broadens their worldview, and strengthens their connection to the peers they serve and in the larger community.

We are emerging from a time in history when many of our daily life activities have been dictated by urgency and crises. As we begin to see an end to necessity driving this certain way of being, it becomes all the more important for us to slow down and engage in inner work for the children in our schools, for our colleagues, and for ourselves.

Educating the whole child by offering an education environment that helps students stay balanced and thrive both academically and emotionally needs to become a mainstay of school culture and curriculum. Schools should develop communities where children are individually known and supported through strong adult and peer relationships and ensure students' days are filled with social emotional learning and activities that promote wellbeing.  

Engaging in our differences constructively is incredibly valuable. Civil discourse can grant insight, improve decision making, and connect our students with one another and the larger world. It is also an essential skill for our next generation of leaders and citizens of a diverse democracy to develop.