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Who says kids only think of themselves these days?  The students at Webster Thomas High School have filled an entire wall near their cafeteria with slips of paper that say different.

Each pink slip — and there are about 200 of them — has a simple phrase written on it, describing an act of kindness that student did for another.  They range from simple (“picked up a pencil for Joe”) to extensive and expensive (“donated $500 to the food cupboard”).  And more of them are being added to the wall every day.

The students are responding to the “Pay it Forward” initiative that was introduced at Thomas High School about a month ago by the school’s CARE Team. Students were shown Pay It Forward videos and were challenged to find their own ways to give back to their school and community. Filling out the pink slips is just one way they’re doing that.

Tomorrow, that challenge will be extended to the greater Webster community.  At Saturday night’s Webster Schroeder vs. Webster Thomas Staff Benefit Basketball Game, community members will be invited to take the Pay It Forward challenge themselves.  CARE Team member Catherine Smura explains,

 This is a great way to get the entire Webster community involved and provides an opportunity for everyone to make a pledge to pay it forward in their own way. The pink slips will be posted around the gym that night at the game and everyone will be able to see the great plans that others have created.

The slips say “My Plan To Pay It Forward Is…,” and more than 2000 of them have been copied and cut, ready for the game. That’s a lot of slips. That’s a lot of kindness.

Which brings me back to the pink wall. I paused there yesterday for several minutes and looked closely at the comments students had made.  They were all very nice, usually simple and specific gestures.  Closing a mailbox. Helping someone learn to dance. Helping with homework.

But my favorite was not very specific. It simply said, “I made someone feel good about themself.”  What a better world this would be if we could all aspire to that simple life goal.

Hope to see you at the game Saturday night. It begins at 7 pm at the Schroeder High School gymnasium.  This is the game where three Webster educators are going to have their heads shaved at halftime. You do NOT want to miss that. Tickets are $5 each and should be available at the door. Feel free to print off the Pay It Forward skip below, fill it out ahead of time and bring it with you. Get a head start on kindness.

I went to a very nice family dinner party last weekend. Like most good dinner parties, there were lots of kids running around, plenty of food and drink, creative table decorations, a kids’ table (actually, several of them) and an abundance of good company.

About 200 people packed the Willink cafetorium for the banquet.

But unlike your average family dinner party, this one hosted about 200 guests.

The occasion was the Webster High School Marching Band’s annual awards banquet, held to celebrate another successful year, and to honor the exceptionally talented musicians — and dedicated adults — who worked so hard to make it so.  I attended at the invitation of Janet and Gerry Sander, whose daughter Kristen performs with the band’s color guard, and who have been involved with the band for countless years.  They are extremely proud of this organization, what it has done for their children, and what it has done for Webster.  They wanted to share that pride with me, so that I could see firsthand what Marching Band is about.

And what I saw was one big, noisy, musical, laughing, happy family.

Now, I’ve been involved in any number of organizations and clubs and attended all sorts of awards banquets.  They’re all pretty much the same.  The organization’s president/chairman/head coach leads off, glowing things are said about the star performers, trophies/certificates/letters are handed to those who earned them, there’s polite applause, coffee and tea are served, and then everyone goes home.

This gathering followed that pattern exactly. Well, up to the first part, where band director Brian Wilt introduced the evening’s events. But after that, things got out of step (so to speak) just a little bit.

It’s a tradition that every senior create a poster for the awards banquet, with images from the year. This one was made by clarinetist Hannah Harrison, who was named to the All-American Marching band this year.

Every student in every unit was invited to the stage to receive recognition.  And all the adults who selflessly gave of their time to support the band all year were recognized — the equipment crew, medical staff, chaperones, board of directors, bottle and can drive volunteers, Autumn Fanfare organizers, boosters.  And here was a switch: the kids gave gifts to the staff members. (My favorites were the Mario backpack, a huge plastic tarantula and the New York Yankees hat for the Red Sox fan, which all the unit members signed so he had to wear it.)

Towards the end of the evening all of the seniors came up on stage for special recognition and a gift bag which included a beautiful Marching Band blanket for their college dorm room.  When they all went back to sit down, you could see the balloons tied to the gift bags all gathered around one table. These kids weren’t sitting with their parents. They were sitting with the friends they made in marching band.

That is family.

The evening ended with a moving, 35-minute video (put together by the Sanders’ older daughter Jen) spanning the entire year of practices, competitions, trips, band camp, and just the serial craziness that went on behind the scenes. It included personal messages from the seniors, in which they tried to put into words what Marching Band meant to them. And they all said pretty much the same thing:

“It’s the friends you make and the fun you can have,” said one senior.  And another added, “Marching Band is the best sport in high school.”

I think I get it now.

P.S. The Marching Band is introducing a terrific new rogram for young children this year, called the Webster Kidets Marching Band. It’s a parade band for children grades 4-6, designed to teach children the basics of music and motion.  It’s a one-month program, one night a week that will end with a performance in the annual Fireman’s Carnival Kiddie Parade. Click here for more information.

Imagine having the opportunity to chat face-to-face with one of the biggest stars of one of the most popular shows on television today. Plus, you get to ask him two questions.  What would they be?

That was exactly the situation Catherine Osadciw found herself in when she was chosen to participate in a live video chat with Chris Colfer, who plays Kurt on Fox’s hugely popular television show Glee.

Catherine, a freshman at Webster Thomas High School, is a student journalist for the school’s online newspaper, The Courier.  Last fall, the newspaper’s host site, my.hsj.org, sent out a notice about an interview opportunity with Colfer, who was promoting his new movie Struck by Lightning, which he wrote and stars in.  Newspaper Club adviser Mary Heveron-Smith saw it and first offered the interview to another student.  He turned it down. Then she asked Catherine, who jumped at the chance.

The chat was scheduled for mid-December. By then Catherine had watched the movie (the students were sent a link to preview it before its official release) and knew what questions she wanted to ask.  She and her dad made sure all the computer hook-ups were working perfectly on her end. She was ready.

But that’s not to say she wasn’t nervous.

“I’d never done anything like that before,” she said.  It didn’t help that she was only one of only eight student journalists from around the country who were participating. “I expected it to be a big thing,” she said.  And then she found out that she’d be starting off.  “Oh, my gosh, you have to be kidding me,” she thought.

After some technical difficulties on Colfer’s end, the chat finally got rolling, and Catherine asked her questions (“How was this different from a typical film about teenagers?” and “Was it harder writing or starring in the movie?”).  Everyone had their chance to talk with the star, then the interview was over.  It only took about 15 minutes. But that was plenty long enough to leave a lasting impression on Catherine.

“(Colfer) was really fun, really nice to everyone,” she said.  “I liked that he was very humble and passionate about what he did.”

“I was impressed, definitely impressed.”

Click here to go to the Webster Thomas Courier, where you can read Catherine’s interview with Chris Colfer, and her review of Colfer’s new movie, Struck by Lightning.

I was just reminded recently that kindergarten registration is upon us again.  Normally this is not very exciting news, but this year it’s different in a big way. This year, for the first time ever in Webster, parents will be registering their children for full-day kindergarten instead of half-day.

The move to full-day kindergarten for the 2013/14 school year was officially approved by the school board back in December, after the proposal drew strong community support.  The new schedule will mean some changes for families, and a lot of changes for the schools.

In anticipation of all those changes, kindergarten registration is taking place earlier than in previous years.  The process will begin the week of February 11, with each school handling its own registrations. Parent orientation sessions have also been pushed back to give schools more time to update materials. At least a few schools will hold these meetings in May.

Make sure to watch your mail for more information from your school if you have a kindergarten-aged child.  It’s also a great idea to sign up for your school’s electronic newsletter, if you haven’t already.  This is a great way to keep up on what’s happening in the school if you have kids there already, and a nice way to get acquainted if your child will be attending for the first time next year. You can sign up through the Webster School District website.  Look for this icon on the bottom right-hand portion of the page:

I was just reminded recently that kindergarten registration is upon us again.  Normally this is not very exciting news, but this year it’s different in a big way. This year, for the first time ever in Webster, parents will be registering their children for full-day kindergarten instead of half-day.

The move to full-day kindergarten for the 2013/14 school year was officially approved by the school board back in December, after the proposal drew strong community support.  The new schedule will mean some changes for families, and a lot of changes for the schools.

In anticipation of all those changes, kindergarten registration is taking place earlier than in previous years.  The process will begin the week of February 11, with each school handling its own registrations. Parent orientation sessions have also been pushed back to give schools more time to update materials. At least a few schools will hold these meetings in May.

Make sure to watch your mail for more information from your school if you have a kindergarten-aged child.  It’s also a great idea to sign up for your school’s electronic newsletter, if you haven’t already.  This is a great way to keep up on what’s happening in the school if you have kids there already, and a nice way to get acquainted if your child will be attending for the first time next year. You can sign up through the Webster School District website.  Look for this icon on the bottom right-hand portion of the page: