This year when Grace started kindergarten I was asked to be room parent. I am not the room parent type of mom and have never stepped up to the plate. I kindly told Mrs. Boyd that I have little time to devote to this “volunteer opportunity”, and could she find another parent, aka “sucker”. Nope, none for the taking, and she told me all I need to do is forward emails, yadda, yadda, yadda. Well, somewhere in the yadda, yadda, yadda, coordinating the classroom parents to participate in the annual “Flower Fun Store”, was hidden in the small print. I had no idea what the “Flower Fun Store” was because Molly did not have Mrs. Boyd for kindergarten and I apparently did not pay attention to my “friends” when they laughed at my being room parent. I truly thought they were laughing because of my inadequacies as far as room parenting goes, not because of Mrs. Boyd’s legacy of the Flower Fun Store.
Each family was asked to make 100 tissue flowers to contribute to the store, there’s more of that yadda, yadda, yadda. Now how was I going to get 23 families with limited time to make up to 100 tissue flowers???? Holy Pickles Charlie Brown!!
Anyone that knows me knows that I do not just do the job, I go beyond, because why just do what you are asked to do? There is no excitement to life if you don’t go big I say!
So here is the story:
Year after year, the Red Cross supports our community, and year after year Mrs. Irma Boyd supports the Red Cross; 21 years to be exact! Mrs. Boyd’s Flower Fun Store fundraiser at Myers Park Traditional School for the Red Cross was inspired by her personal experience with the Red Cross in the 1970s when an earthquake displaced her family. Mrs. Boyd and her kindergarten class and their families design and sell paper flowers with all proceeds going to the Red Cross. The fundraiser teaches the students about the basics of running a business and in the process, they learned about the basics of helping protect their community by supporting the Red Cross.
And how did the Boyd kindergarten class of 2012 raise the bar to prove that you are never too young to give to your community and participate first hand? We invited Fox News Rising and Wilson’s World00021. to join us for the kick off morning of the Flower Fun Store and share with all of Charlotte how awesome we are! It was an early morning with lots of laughs, thanks to Wilson, and a great way to share what we can do together working as a community. These kindergarteners have learned first hand that they too can make a difference and help others in need, right here in their community where they live and play. They have learned more about the Red Cross, at a young age, then most of us may even know about today. They learned how important community service is and how rewarding it can be. Kindergarten with Mrs. Boyd is definitely not limited to ABC’s and 1 2 3’s!
A big thank you to all those that supported us in this year’s store too! Fox News / Wilson’s World for coming out and promoting our project, Chick-Fil-A on Woodlawn Road donated breakfast and coffee for the early morning Wilson’s World segment, Kicks ‘n Grins on Park Road sold tissue paper below cost to the parents, Girls On The Run helped make flowers, and THE PARENTS OF MRS. BOYD”S CLASS that have spent many hours making flowers to help their children learn the importance of service and the community! We went BIG and as of June 8th, 2012, I will hand over my “classroom parent” crown to the next lucky volunteer, and I promise to offer a support hotline to help them muddle through.
