Last weekend we had the extreme privilege to go to Park Elementary and read to children during their annual “Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss” day. Hannah Richards, Taylor Wells, Campbell McCrea, James Ackerman, Brandon McConnell, and Jeremiah Hyatt all went and participated. Park Elementary is one of the oldest elementary schools in Georgia and has a lot of history in those walls. I was blessed to read to a second grade classroom and watch them do some of their daily activities. I was again reminded of the way that children listen and love and dance and act—all completely 100% energy. They threw themselves into listening to us read those twenty-page books, simple stories about a moose or a cat or a plant seed. We went dressed up and got to share with them why we loved Dr. Seuss. We had a Cindy Lou Hoo, a Thing 1 and Thing 2, a Dr. Seuss and a Lox in Socks. If nothing else, it was so much fun for us as students to feel like kids again and also so much fun for the kids to see us engaged and passionate about something that insignificant. Going to places like Park Elementary and interacting with the staffers and teachers was just another opportunity to show the love of Christ and perhaps bless the few people we came into contact with. Park Elementary already has a wonderful relationship with IMPACT 360 because of the four students that volunteer there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for their SO’s. We were able to go and continually reinforce this relationship and show how much IMPACT 360 wants to pour back into the community that has so welcomed us. All in all, it was a fantastic few hours with little kids and big kids, some dressed up and some not.
-Hannah Richards