North High School Adaptive Music Class

I’ve had the opportunity over the last few months to meet with some exceptional people in our schools and communities. These people are warriors in the fight to build a strong Chippewa Valley. They go to battle every single day with the most genuine smiles and lofty goals. They wage war on illiteracy, poverty, intolerance, and – quite frankly – boredom. They truly believe that they’re making a difference in the lives of children and their families. And they are unbelievably kind.

The thing is, they’re just regular people. They’re teachers, principals, administrative staff, parents, volunteers, and students themselves. They care because they’re invested in the greater good, not because it gets them recognition. In fact, all too often, it doesn’t.

If we can all learn one thing from these everyday heroes, it’s that the power to make a difference is in all of us. It doesn’t take huge acts of heroism to impact the community in which we reside. It absolutely doesn’t take deep pockets filled with money, or an abnormal amount of free time in a day. All it takes is a little bit of caring, and a whole heap of kindness.

Take the DECA group from North High School for example. These students worked together to raise over $1,000 and gathered over 230 pounds of food for Feed My People Food Bank. Or Rosie Hartung, the beloved crossing guard who has won the hearts of students, parents, and teachers by standing vigil at the corner of Starr Avenue and Eddy Lane for over 15 years. And we can’t dismiss the hundreds of volunteers in the Chippewa Valley that show up every day to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and sit by the bedsides of those who are passing away without family to hold their hands. There’s a quiet army of individuals in our midst that one day at a time, one heart a day, are changing our lives for the better.

If each of us just took one moment each day to extend a little compassion where we may otherwise have not, imagine how much better our already incredible Chippewa Valley could be. Mother Teresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” In our case, that stone is kindness, and the Chippewa Valley is our water. Let’s get out there and create some ripples.