Make a Difference

Each year JP2 decides on a school theme. This year's theme is Make a Difference. The teachers, staff and parents are teaching the children how they can make a difference (big or small) in themselves, the people around them and the world. The story the Principal shared with us at the beginning of the school year, and that we keep coming back to is the Story of the Starfish.

The Starfish Story
adapted from The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley 1907 - 1977

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out

"Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"

When the teachers or staff see the kids doing something that makes a difference, they put that child's name on a paper starfish and post it in the main hallway. Slowly but surely the hallway is filling up with starfish. Activities are planned with the theme in mind as are school masses. One of the songs the kids sing frequently is "Go Make a Difference". They have heard it enough that they sing it at home and we sometimes get to hear it at mass on Sunday. Little Wy has heard it enough now that he sings it while playing with his trains;

"Go make a difference.
You can make a difference.
Go make a difference in the world!
Go make a difference.
We can make a difference.
Go make a difference in the world!"