As this unprecedented situation continues around us, the strength of our relationships and the way we care for each other is more important than ever. Over this term we hope to provide some opportunities for fun activities to help bring our families and the wider DC community together and acknowledge the way our community is engaging with each other in this time. For our older students we also hope these activities will be able to provide a catalyst for Community Engagement ideas at a time when these are particularly challenging to find. In the next week or two, Secondary students will be provided with information on how this might support.
What will happen:
Each week we will provide a Community Engagement Wellbeing Challenge. It will be a simple idea that builds relationships, makes us feel good, allows us to engage with our family and/or community. Each challenge will require the submission of a short picture or video which will be put together to share how others have engaged with the task as a community celebration.
It is important to recognise that this opportunity is a personal family challenge, one that we would like to encourage our DC community to share as we know from research that sharing positive news has an effect on building positive emotion for all.
The first challenge
To kick us off the first challenge is: Send us a Smile
Many see smiling simply as an involuntary response to things that bring you joy or laughter. While this is certainly true, what often gets overlooked is that smiling can be just as much a voluntary response as a conscious and powerful choice.
Studies have shed light on how the act of smiling can elevate your mood and the mood of those around you. Others have found a strong link between good health, longevity, and smiling. Just the act of smiling, whether the result of real joy or an act, can have both short- and long-term benefits on people’s health and wellbeing.
So our challenge to you this week is to smile. Make a conscious effort to smile at those you love and people you meet. Smile at passers by and at people in our community. You should even smile at yourself. Watch as your smile makes someone else smile and notice how smiling boosts your mood. Finally, send us a smile. Show us your pearly whites, your grin, your giggle. Make us smile by submitting a video or photo of your biggest, brightest, smile. You can even hold up a sign to let us know who you’re smiling for.
Submission date and time: Friday 1 May 2020
Submission location: Please submit your video/photo to this Google Form.
We will be working with our students to design future challenges.