Look for the Helpers

Good Tuesday to you all! This is my 144th complete post of 2020.  I have two posts in draft form, which need more attention and will get posted eventually but they both need particular pictures or permissions, so while you await those gems, today I thought I'd talk a little bit about the meaning of Christmas. It's hard to talk about Christmas in a public school because we are all about inclusivity, and not everybody celebrates Christmas.  We have students and families that Celebrate Hanukkah (Dec 10th-18th), Kwanzaa (Dec 26-Jan 1st), and the Winter Solstice (yesterday) which is why my goal is to teach and inspire in a more secular (meaning non-religious) way.  I simply wish to help educate you about the different philosophies or ways that people make connections to their faith, which can then be applied by anyone wishing to lead a peaceful and inclusive life-style.   When I was in high school, one of my favorite classes, which I took during my senior year, was W...

Here we go folks...last two days before we get a well-deserved break that will take us into the new year.  This morning I thought I'd share something to get us moving on this gray Monday.   Check it out and see if you can't not tap your toe to these awesome pipes and drums!   I have always loved the sound of bagpipes, and Scotland is on my travel list - a place I look forward to visiting in the future!  This time of year is a time where we heavily invest in our hopes and dreams and we think about the magic around us.  I hope that you will spend some time dreaming over this upcoming holiday break!  Although it might feel hard to dream just now, with all the restrictions in place, we have to remember that it won't last forever.  We have to be resilient and find a place in our minds where we can imagine what life will be like on the other side of all this.  Where will we go when it's over?   We will go places again and we will hav...

Happy Friday Everyone! We have almost finished up our last full school week of 2020, and what a year it has been!  We've needed all the hugs, high fives, and encouragement and laughter we could get this year, so I figured I'd send us out with some funnies and some feel-good moments.   In honor of all those cool duds, we didn't get to wear this year...   A reminder to communicate, to keep trying, support each other when we fail, and to be there for each other...always!! I like this little reminder that it's just you and the ocean (or maybe the mountains around here)  Everything else can be falling apart around you, but if you focus on yourself and your connection to the earth, you will find peace.   Let's make it a beautiful day folks! Why?  'Cause it's Friday!   Be well, Mrs. Hempey

Welcome to our first Remote Snow Day! While it's not quite the same as snow days of the past, the good news is that as long as people attend school on these days, we don't have to make them up in June, and that means we will get out of school earlier than usual, leaving more time for summer fun, relaxation, and adventure!   I am short on time for blogging today as I have to bring my kiddo to a mid-day dentist appointment, but I wanted to make sure I left you with a little something for inspiration today despite the packed morning schedule.   Although the verbiage is a little strong - as I am not trying to "fix you" I still like the sentiment in this Coldplay song.   Instead of a fixer, remember that my role is as your emotional cheerleader, supporter, team player, coach, skill-builder, and friend.  I hope that when/if the tears stream down your face, you'll reach out for support from me (or from another trusted adult).  I don't/won't always have a...

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  This morning I wanted to reflect on friendship (and making friends and keeping friends).  This topic is on my mind because last Sunday evening, I participated in the recording of a podcast about friendship.  A friend of mine co-hosts the podcast, and she invited me and others to join the recording in honor of their 50th episode.  It was fun to simply be invited, but taking part in it, and now listening back to it this morning, has been an enlightening experience and an opportunity to reflect on friendships and their importance.   I've written about friendships before, and I've talked about how the connections we make are vital to our positive mental health, but I want to acknowledge that making and keeping friends is not as simple as just saying, "I think I'll make a friend today."  Cultivating friendships is hard.  It's a two-way street.  Both parties have to be engaged and invested, and willing to put in the work ...

Happy Tuesday Everyone, I feel like this sums up many an emotion these days... This is one of the days for me where I just need to acknowledge the suck.  It is what it is, and tomorrow will undoubtedly be better.   If you are missing loved ones, this holiday season, find ways to connect as you can...a front porch dance party seems like a fabulous choice!  So do zoom calls, and virtual board games!  Create boxes of sweet treats and share them with family, friends, and neighbors, or be a secret somebody to light up someone else's day.  Get out there and be creative in order to weather the storm.   Have a great day everyone! Be well, Mrs. Hempey  

Welcome to our last full school week of 2020!   I am really digging deep to get started this week, and I just need a little something that makes me smile and feel good!   I found this mish-mash this weekend, I hope you'll check it out and enjoy it as much as I did.   I am always curious when I hear Bohemian Rapsody about the meaning behind it, so today I looked it up and discovered that Freddie Mercury, who wrote the song in 1975, was fiercely protective of his lyrics ad their meaning.  Therefore, the meaning behind this particular iconic ballad remains a mystery.  Different folks have different guesses about his inspirations but what most seem to agree on is that Mercury was influenced by many factors, including his own life experiences, the music of others, different styles of music, and the people he came in contact with.   Many feel that the song has a fantastical element to it and that some of the lyrics are made-up words.  I d...

Happy Friday Everyone, I wanted to share this "parenting tip" with all of you.   I don't really know why it's being marketed just to parents, because anyone can learn about their brains and how to release these feel-good chemicals into their bodies.  "Feel Good chemicals are chemicals naturally occurring in our bodies which we can increase by doing certain activities.  When we increase these chemicals it helps to reduce stress, sadness, or anxiety.  Notice that many of these things are similar or the same as the tools we use in school to stay calm, happy, and regulated.     Notice that many of these hacks are similar or the same as the tools we use in school to stay calm, happy and regulated when we start to feel stressed.  (Hence the reason Hillary arranged to have Fred here today!)   Since laughing and petting dogs and cats or other animals are super tools for releasing "happy chemicals" I thought I'd share some cute animal videos...

Happy Thursday Everyone!   Today at sundown marks the start of Hanukkah, which is one of the many Jewish holidays celebrated throughout the year.  If you don't know much about Hanukkah, check out this video.   What a lovely holiday - a celebration of light and hope - finding light in the darkness.  Sounds just about right for the times we are in.  So though you may not be Jewish and you may not celebrate Hanukkah, like many non-Christians do with Christmas, you can celebrate the spirit of the season!   The point of my daily blog is to inspire you and to teach you skills that you can take with you out into the everyday world.  I hope that today you will remember that inclusivity around the holidays is not just important for making everyone feel welcomed and recognized, but it also shows that you are a person who is willing to educate yourself about different cultures and traditions from around the world (and in your own back yard!) ...

 Hello Students... It's late on Wednesday, and it spent the available time I had today recording a read-aloud of, Hope For The Flowers , the book I mentioned in yesterday's blog post.   It's going to take a while to upload the videos as they are in three 8-10 minute segments.  I should have them up for you tomorrow.   In the meantime, I'll hold you over with another tidbit of inspiration, which is similar to the message from Hope .  This message comes from one of my role models, Pat Summitt.  She was the former coach of the University of Tennessee woman's basketball team and the second all-time winningest coach in all of NCAA basketball history (men or women) after Mike Krzyzewski of Duke.     Enjoy the remainder of your day! Mrs. Hempey

Happy Tuesday Everyone, I saw this recently... Not only did it make me giggle, (cause I feel like were all wrapped in a big safety blanket these days), but it made me wonder what kinds of weird looking caterpillar to butterfly transformations there are out there?  I decided to do a little research.   Just a heads up, if you are grossed out by bugs, read no further...nothing super disgusting here, but personally, I do find caterpillars sort of gross, so if you are like me, and don't want to see the bugs, focus on the beautiful butterflies and then read on for the message below... Okay, this one below is actually horrifying to me both, as a creepy-crawly caterpillar and as a fuzzy butterfly, but maybe when you look at it from a 10,000-foot level it looks better??   As I got looking at all these butterfly before-and-afters, I found so many beautiful pictures of intricately unique specimens and it got me thinking about the uniqueness of individual humans as well.  C...

Good Morning Everyone!   I hope you all had relaxing and enjoyable weekends.  My weekend was quiet and not super exciting, we cleaned the house, baked a little, watch some TV together, grocery shopped, etc.  But on the bright side, I've been getting lots of extra sleep! Without a schedule to be anywhere I've been pretty lazy in the mornings - relaxing in bed until I am ready to get up, taking a bit of extra time on my workout routine, and leisurely sipping my tea while I watch the news, is pretty much how I roll on weekends these days.  The luxury of this kind of lazy routine isn't always afforded to me, as in normal times, there is normally some kind of weekend plan or place to be.  I am a schedule gal...I like to know the plan, and I like to think way ahead about all the little pieces that need to fall in place in order to make the plan work.  (For example, if we are going to ski on a Sunday, what has to happen on Saturday to make that happen...weekl...

Happy Friday Everyone, I  wanted to share this song..and tell you a little story.  Check it out!   Just as an aside, I always have high hopes (pun intended) that I am delivering you fresh content when I share a video I like or one that speaks to me in some way.   But I'd really have to be naive to think this.  More than likely you guys are spending enough time on YouTube and social media to have seen everything I have seen.  I watch the way my kids absorb media content, and I would be silly to think that you haven't heard, High Hopes , or seen Walk off the Earth perform these unique covers.  The real reason I share the things I do on my blog is that they usually inspire a thought that I can then translate into my little mini school counseling lesson for the day.  If you've been a faithful blog reader, thanks for sticking with me for all of these lessons, and I hope that you get as much from reading them as I get from writing them.  ...

Happy Thursday Everyone, I often see this song popup in my different social media feeds and I have thought about posting it a number of times, as I think it's a beautiful song.  I chose to post it today not just because it's a very peaceful song, but also because every time I watch it I am amazed at how resilient we have become as a society that something like this can come together so beautifully.   Think of all that needed to happen to make this video a reality...admittedly I know very little about the music industry and am no expert, so I am sure I don't know half of it.  I think about the kids all having to learn their parts, then practice their parts, and then film their parts.  They had to look presentable, and have no major technical difficulties or obvious mistakes in their performances.  The conductor had to conduct hundreds of kids without being in the same physical space as them, then he and others had to edit and create the final effect.  W...

Good Wednesday Morning to you All, As I returned home after dropping my children off at school, this morning, I heard a story on National Public Radio about an Elephant named Kaavan, who was once dubbed the world's loneliest Elephant.  You can hear about the story from BBC News here .  Kaavan had been living in an underfunded and ill-equipped zoo in Pakistan for 35 years.  He had become isolated and even more lonely in the last 8 years since his companion elephant died 8 years ago.   Four years ago Kaavan acquired some champions - a veterinarian named Amir Khalil from Four Paws International, and international music superstar, Cher.  It has taken Four Paws over four years of work to finally get Kaavan relocated from Pakistan to a sanctuary in Cambodia where he will be able to live and roam with over 600 other elephants.  Read more about Kaavan, and the effort of Cher and Four Paws International here .   What made me feel inspired by this stor...

Happy Giving Tuesday Everyone!   Today is " Giving Tuesday, which is often stylized as #GivingTuesday for the purposes of hashtag activism.  It refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is touted as a "global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.'"   Wikipedia   I don't think it's a coincidence that Giving Tuesday falls right after Black Friday and Cyber Monday - two days where we tend to focus on buying material things for ourselves and for our family members.  Giving Tuesday tries to put the focus back on the spirit of giving to those in need.  This morning as I listened to National Public Radio on my way to school, they were matching $25.00 gifts to public radio with 25 meals for families in need through the VT Foodbank.  I hope you will consider how you can give today.  As a reminder giving comes in many forms and it doesn't always have t...