$1,796…and 5 Tips for Parents of Elementary Students

Janine Lillard’s second-graders had a penny drive.

They were wanting to help a school hit by Hurricane Sandy.   “I believe in doing social justice and that social-action projects develop a youngster into a person who cares about others,” says Ms. Lillard in the article on her in St. Louis Magazine.  She is named their Elementary School Winner for Excellence in Education.

She and her students collected pennies.  Others in the district got involved.  Ms. Lillard’s class went to the bank. “We watched the money go through the little coin machine, and then we got the final check, ” she says.  “Just to see their faces!  They couldn’t believe that all this change had accumulated to $1,796.”

(Side note: I have no idea where, or even if, she’s active in a local church…but she sure sounds like a good United Methodist….)

Ms. Lillard’s 5 Tips for Parents:

1. Always smile.

2. Before you speak, take a deep breath.

3. If you are real with your child, your child will feel that he or she can be real with you.

4. If you go the distance, they will go the distance with you.

5. For every one frustration, try to find four or five specific compliments for your child.