Last week, Pam Parks’ Grade 4/5 class at Meadowlands Public School received a visit from a real somebody in the Ottawa community, the Rabbi Reuven Bulka, who introduced them to a real nobody.
“Nobody” is the doll with no face and no features that the students will turn into a “somebody” throughout the year with the Who Is Nobody (WIN) character education program.
This year, you guys and gals, are going to make Nobody into a somebody— Rabbi Reuven Bulka
Each student will get to take Nobody home for a week and perform an act of service. Then the students will add something to Nobody to commemorate their good deed. By the end of the year, Nobody will be fully dressed and have a face and personality imparted from these character building tasks.
Bulka had heard about the WIN program from Rotarian Dave Palmer on his radio program. He decided to purchase a kit and donate it to a school and Palmer connected him to Meadowlands to receive the kit.
Bulka got the kids thinking about character by asking them how they would make someone they met feel like a somebody and whether they had ever felt like a nobody.
“This year, you guys and gals, are going to make Nobody into a somebody,” he told the class.
Parks got the kids excited to meet Nobody with notes on the blackboard counting down to his or her arrival. (The children have yet to choose a name and a gender for Nobody.)
“I think Nobody will look quite different at the end of the year,” Parks said, and promised to invite Bulka back to see the completed version.
This will be the first time a Meadowlands class participates in the WIN program.
This article was published in the Nepean This Week Newspaper on November 14th 2009
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