Ballou High School ​Visual Arts Department
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Giving This Holiday Season

12/4/2014

 
     Tis the season! This is my favorite time of year; it is a season of giving and sharing, loving and forgiving.  This is the time of year when I open my heart the widest and bless people that I love. I create paintings for my friends, bake holiday cookies for my co-workers, and shop! I try to find just the right gifts to make the people I love happy... and I will let you in on a little secret...I play secret Santa to someone special.
     During the holiday season, I chose a stranger to bless. I do it quietly without the person knowing that the gifts come from me. It is my way of blessing someone in need or someone who just needs to know that they are not forgotten. I am telling you all this in hopes that it will inspire you to join in. The ART of giving is a beautiful thing. I promise that you will be more blessed than the person who receives your gift. 
     Almost every year I chose a child in need to bless at Christmas, but this year I'm doing something different. I am going to bless an elderly woman at the Willow Bay nursing home. The nursing home has a tree filled with cards of all the people who need help. I stood in front of the tree and read the cards and I decided to chose a woman named, Margaret (my grandmother's name was Margaret). On the back of Margaret's card it said:
  
     
"This lady has an outgoing personality; she takes care of      her appearance & still carries her purse wherever she goes.   She loves colorful scarves and lipstick. She is a lady!"

She sounds just like me, so I picked Margaret! I took the card home and put it on my tree. The photo above is my Christmas tree. I plan on making a lovely basket of gifts for her and I will drop it off at the Willow Bay nursing home before Christmas and put it under the tree with her name on it. Christmas morning I will imagine the smile on Margaret's face as she opens up all her gifts. This is what this season is all about; thinking of others. You don't have to have a lot of money to give. 
     Be a giver this holiday season. In the next few posts, I will discuss ways that you can give without spending a penny! I love you guys. Ms. B.

I love this quote by Mother Theresa,
"It is not how much we give but how much love we put into giving".






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    Donna Bonavia

    I am an art educator and  a professional artist. I write this blog to guide my students in  (SEL) social, emotional, and academic development. S.E.L. is the District of Columbia Public School's priority because we believe that we must educate the whole child.


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