The Kindness Ninjas from Larchwood Public School have done it again, and this time, it’s one for the books.
The stealthy group of four and five-year-olds raised $1,000 to support the local SPCA through the sale of a book of animal poetry.
The super special project emerged when kindergarten teacher Natalie Taylor was looking for ways to give back. While brainstorming, she sought inspiration from Live Love Louder, a local not-for-profit that uses art to build community.
“Our students are very interested in helping animals,” said Taylor. “As many of them have pets, they have a good sense of the level of care animals require. They knew our next kindness mission would benefit animals in some way.”
Live Love Louder received a Hydro One Energizing Life Community Grant and thought it would be a great fit to fund an animal poetry book created by students in partnership with Poet Laureate Kyla Heyming and Live Love Louder artist Laura-Leigh Gillard.
“The idea really got students excited,” says Taylor. “Through this worthy venture, they could help animals while sharing kindness and their love of literacy. Working alongside a skilled writer and a seasoned artist was truly the icing on the cake.”
Heyming and Gillard visited students separately to work on the project, maximizing their time together. With their help, each student selected an animal, drew a picture of the animal, and chose words to describe the animal.
“It was truly a collaborative effort,” says Kyla Heyming. "My focus was on writing poetry while Laura-Leigh worked with students on their art. I really enjoyed the students’ energy. They were thrilled to work on something new. Their excitement at stringing along words to accompany their art was truly inspiring.”
"I like colouring pictures for animals. I worked very hard on my picture of the cat,” says Senior Kindergarten student Peyton Bourre. “It is important to help the animals because they don't have homes. They need food and that costs money.
“I really like the poetry book we made. I put it on my bookshelf at home. It is very special and it is kind to help because we are Kindness Ninjas."
Students beamed with joy when Gillard dropped by the school to show them the final product. Several students exclaimed: "We are authors!" They were also very proud to be able to help animals.
“It’s been my goal to create engaging content that inspires the community to read, recite and write poetry,” Heyming said. “It’s important for people to try different ways of expressing themselves. You’re never too young to start.
“I hope students are happy that something they created is helping the greater good. We often create art for ourselves, but when something we do helps others, it fills our hearts.”
The Kindness Ninjas Book of Animal Poetry went on sale June 15.
It sold out in less than two weeks, marking a beautiful end to another school year.
