St. Louis Park students spend a week learning to care about others

Last Tuesday evening, students in kindergarten through eighth grade whipped up hundreds of peanut butter sandwiches at the Amos and Celia Heilicher Minneapolis Jewish Day School to go to children in need.

Things got intense as everyone worked at full speed in an assembly line that stretched along several folding tables down one hallway — so much so that some adults leading the charge panicked when they thought they'd run out of bread early in the night, according to Juli Olson, a school staffer.

"We thought, 'Oh no, how could we run out of 1,700 pieces of bread?' " she said.

It turned out that the group was "so fast, they didn't even realize that they were done," she said. Once that was settled, "Everyone in the room cheered."

The sandwichmaking, along with many other hands-on community service activities that night, was just part of a weeklong effort that the school dubbed VOICE, which stands for Volunteer Opportunities In Community Service Experience.

Despite heavy snowfall Tuesday, nearly 400 people ventured out for the extracurricular event.

Ray Levi, the head of school, was pleased with the outcome. "It was so exciting to see kids of all ages working together, the parents involved, and to see as much accomplished as was" — and with so much enthusiasm.

And it's important that the students are giving of their time to make the world better, he said.

On the whole, the school's ambitious volunteer week, a program that's been going for eight years, helps "students see that our commitment and work is shared by everyone."

This relates to the notion of Tikkun Olam, rooted in the Jewish tradition, which means "repairing the world," he added.

That's a message that even the youngest children are internalizing, he said.

Lending a hand

During VOICE night, twins Ryan and Andrew Steinberg, who are kindergarteners, helped put together care packages.

In another area of the building, Adri Kotlarz, a second-grader, drew colorful smiley faces, hearts and peace signs on a bunch of snack bags. "We decorate the bags so it doesn't feel like a plain bag," she said.

Esther Gendler, a seventh-grader, traveled from one work station to another. "I've been all over, packing lunch bags, making blankets," she said. "I want to be a part of every activity."

Her brother, Raphy, an eighth-grader, who held their sister Rebekah, a first-grader, on his lap, chimed in: "We know there are those less fortunate, and we need to do what we can to help."

Home sweet home

In an art room, children painted canvasses with "Home Sweet Home" and other warm words and pictures for Start Today Hennepin, an organization that places homeless people into permanent housing.

Jennifer Weissman, whose daughter Josslyn is a kindergartener at the school, leads the organization.

The artwork was a pleasant surprise, she said. "It warms the heart for the families moving into these apartments, which are so empty and bare.... The pictures are so colorful and creative, and the children put a lot of thought in them."

Her daughter painted a family with a sun and birds. Josslyn often has helped her move people into their new apartments, she said.

But it's not just people that deserve "loving acts of kindness."

Sarah Kozberg, a sixth-grader, tries to "do blankets" each year at VOICE night. These go to the local Humane Society. "It's really fun, doing it with friends, talking and making blankets for animals," she said.

A snowball effect

During VOICE week, students also sang and danced at Sholom Home, an assisted-living facility in Minneapolis; mixed earth-friendly cleaning solutions in the science lab, and recorded stories in English for a partner school in Israel, among many other projects.

Children in the upper grades raised money for Kiva, an organization that provides micro-loans to business owners all over the world, according to Rabbi Joseph Robinson, Jewish programming cordinator. "Instead of a handout, it helps people to better themselves," he said.

To earn money to donate, children are doing extra chores around the house, walking their neighbors' dogs, shoveling driveways and more.

Etai Wert, a fifth-grader, is selling some of his old Legos, Pokemon cards and videogames on eBay to raise money for the cause.

Similarly, the younger students contributed to Heifer International, a charity that provides livestock to families in need across the globe.

This has gotten Ayelet Prottas, a third-grader, to thinking about ways to raise a cow, or make a cheese basket, for a family that goes without. These are the types of things that students can pursue on their own, Robinson said.

It demonstrates how an act of kindness leads to another, beyond the school. The idea is, "Let's start this snowball effect, keep the energy up, and move forward," Robinson said.

Anna Pratt is a Twin Cities freelance writer.