HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Zeeland Christian third-grade teacher Emily Sloterbeek wants her students to understand the world beyond their classroom and school.
With that goal in mind, each month Sloterbeek took her students to the Holland Rescue Mission’s Stepping Stones Daycare, where they helped out, and played with babies or young children whose parents were working toward rebuilding their lives.
“If they needed us to clean that day, we were enthusiastically cleaning,” Sloterbeek said.
Prior Stepping Stones Daycare Director Grace Boersma says the mission and its daycare program aim to help end the cycle of homelessness and poverty, and focus efforts on the kids.
“For many of the children, the daycare is a safe space. Knowing there are people outside of the building who want to come and love them makes a huge impact on them and increases their feelings of self-worth,” she said.
Working with the children in the daycare gave Sloterbeek’s students insight into other people’s situations and has had a lasting affect on their outlook.
Avery, now a sixth-grader, said serving there “made me wonder what it would be like to live here. I don’t know what these kids have been through, but they are happy here.”
Fellow sixth-grader Sophia, said the children might have had “an experience that wasn’t safe, or didn’t make them feel loved. The daycare, and us helping there, showed them they were safe, and they were loved.”
Sloterbeek encourages her students to have an enthusiastic, “here to serve” mindset. She also invites parents to come along as chaperones with the hopes of building greater community connections.”
Whole student growth through service and extracurricular experiences is featured by the Ottawa Area Schools’ “Doing More. Together.” collaborative. DMT is an innovative education partnership between faith-based schools, public schools, and public school academies in the Ottawa County region.
The partnership’s website is at doingmoretogether.org.
