Traits of a Hero

We started the evening by listening to The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins, the inspiring story of Kate Sessions who, as a young girl, loved trees and being in the woods. In school she studied science to learn more about plants and later became the first woman to graduate from the University of California.  Kate decided that the desert town of San Diego needed trees. So she researched and started a huge tree-planting movement that changed San Diego to the green, garden-filled oasis it is today. Now, more than 100 years later, her gorgeous gardens and parks can be found all over the city. That's what a small girl who loves plants can do if she works hard and is perseverant!

We brainstormed words and phrases for traits that we thought heroes might have: kindness, respectfulness, empathy, obedience, helpfulness. We also noted that heroes would take care of the Earth, with reducing, reusing, recycling, and not wasting resources like water and electricity. Then we drew pictures of ourselves portraying one of these traits. 

Next, in an effort to reuse and recycle, and to show kindness to animals and helpfulness to the volunteers at the NH Humane Society - we made dog toys from old t-shirts! It was fun to choose the colored strips and to braid them together. We have so many dog toys to give to John McCrae and Pemi, his therapy dog, when they come to visit the Gordon-Nash next Tuesday night! John will deliver our dog toys and other donations to the NH Humane Society for us!