I teach a sixth-grade Hebrew school class every Tuesday at my synagogue.
This year, the staff has worked to institute a "mitzvah theme". A mitzvah is a good deed, as well as a commandment in the Jewish religion. However, we have talked about the fact that anyone, of any religion, can perform a mitzvah.
Recently the Rabbi asked us to set goals for our classes to be reached by the end of March. I sat down with the kids to talk about it, thinking that what we should really focus on was finishing the prayer they've all been struggling with. Instead, the kids decided they wanted to do a mitzvah project.
I encouraged them to do it, but secretly figured they'd lose interest by the next week. However, the next week, my kids came in with a proposal for a book drive and a furniture painting workshop -- they wanted to collect books and then paint bookshelves and donate books to Reach Out and Read, an oranization that gets books to kids in hospitals who can't afford their own. They even designed a flyer about the book drive!
