Everyone plays a role

The fourth- and fifth-graders in Opal 4 have been stretching out, finding ways that their gifts can address the world’s needs.  Many of their stories will be told at next month’s Symposium.  Here, eleven-year-old Chase shares her project – and invites you to contribute.

A couple months ago, my teacher, Susan, asked my class how we could help the world.

Everyone thought of something different, from refugee kits to dolls for children of color. My first idea was that I could put a display of drawings around town. The drawings would make you wonder. “What does this drawing mean to me? How does it connect to the world?”

I started on my first image. It was a fist. I had thought of it when looking at posters for the Women’s March. I asked my classmates if they wanted to help, and they said yes. They saw my fist, and were interested in drawing more hands, like that one. A day later, I was looking at the finished art. Looking at the hands, I saw that they were all unique and beautiful.

Maybe the drawings could all be of hands. And maybe it wasn’t just me and my classmates who could make them. Everyone could! The hands would be displayed online so that everyone could see them. Everyone could see that even though some people have a different race, or have a different face than you, everyone is connected.

The next step was making the website. On it, I made a blog. And every time I write, about at the halfway point, I really get in the zone. The ideas keep flooding through me, and I never have to stop and think. Kind of like this. The blog post starts off as something ordinary, but then I can turn it into something unique. Like when I talk about an organization supporting my project, I can segue into how a community’s support is very important, no matter where.

10,000 hands will bring people together. All races, all ages, and all different hands.

Some people think that people with different beliefs don’t belong in America. Some think that people with different beliefs should be separate. But separate is never equal. Being separate never improves anything. It doesn’t help. If anything, it makes it worse. Because if people can’t work together, then they can’t solve problems.

No one deserves to be (or even feel) alone.

If you want people to be together, you need to do something, or at least be a part of something. You can become a part of 10,000 hands, and I believe your voice is important too, just like everyone else’s. You know that, I know that. But some people don’t.
By submitting a hand, you help us show that everyone’s voice matters. Every single, unique and different hand matters. Like a community. Everyone plays a role. So thank you for listening.

Visit www.10khands.com to learn more
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Thank you!