EXAMPLE: “Open Eyes, Open Hearts” – Building Empathy in our School

Project by Breanna Sparling-Bedard,  Lord Selkirk Regional Secondary School

“For my Take Action project, I created eye-catching boxes that encouraged people to anonymously write submissions describing hardships, tragedies, secrets or stories about themselves that they wouldn’t  normally feel comfortable or safe telling others.

I advertised my project through student announcements, posters and by having the boxes set up in the school with flashy colours and signs to ensure everyone knew about my project. I left the boxes set up for 2 weeks and then collected the submissions and was shocked by some of the things people admitted to.

With these submissions I created the video I have attached with the best of my lacking-technology skills, and got a great response. I had this video playing on the school televisions as soon as I finished it, until the end of the school year, and also had an official showing and explanation of it at lunch hour.

I did this project because I wanted people to become more aware of the hardships and burdens people carry with them every day, in order to try and encourage people to lend a helping hand, a smile or some advice instead of judgement, and to make my school a more understanding, loving, safe place for students to attend. Essentially, I wanted people to open their eyes to the issues people face, so they could open their hearts to those in need, so that is why I chose the title “Open Eyes, Open Hearts”.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYAuUsaYQ74

WAY TO TAKE ACTION!