Sharing kindness
Last Thursday’s lunchtime (12 May) was accompanied by continuous drizzle, while students took shelter to partake of sustenance under the eaves along the mall. Although the ambience was dreary, I enjoyed a wonderful conversation with three Year 7 students. Our conversation left me feeling warm and happy. The Year 7 girls were walking with purpose along the mall, prompting me to enquire, “Where are you going?”
The Year 7s replied “We are going to visit Mrs Cecchi”.
I asked if they were going to see her for Maths help.
“No!” they replied. “We are going to give her a present.”
I asked their reason for giving her a present.
They explained, “Mrs Cecchi said she did not have a pencil case, so we have bought one for her, and we are going to give it to her.”
Such a lovely gesture and a small kindness demonstrating such true appreciation for a teacher. It was a kind thing for the students to do, while also being such a great example of what we should all try to do more of in these less than normal times.
Danusha Lameis is an American poet. I take this opportunity to share Danusha’s reflection published in 2019:
Small Kindnesses
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
Danusha Lameis, published in The New York Times, 9/19/2019, Bonfire Opera
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat."
I hope that each of you are the recipient or sharer of a small kindness in the week ahead.
National Volunteering Week
While showing appreciation for kindness of volunteers, I acknowledge our parent volunteers, throughout this National Volunteer Week in Australia. We are very fortunate to have many parent volunteers at Somerville House. On behalf of the students, I pay tribute to the parents who serve on the Parents and Friends Association, the Junior School Support Group, the Middle and Senior Years Support Groups, the Boarding House Support Groups and the various sporting, music and cultural Support Groups. Thank you also to the parents and friends who volunteer their time on the Foundation Board and the Old Girls' Association. Volunteering efforts benefit the Somerville House students directly and on the students’ behalf, I thank each person who regularly contributes his/her time to help the School improve and develop the facilities for student enjoyment.
Mrs Kim Kiepe
Principal