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COLERIDGE — Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School second- through fourth-grade students recently participated in Purple Ribbon Kids put on by the Nebraska Extension in Cedar County.
Purple Ribbon Kids is an elementary leadership program that leads youth through an exploration of traits that effective leadership possesses. Through team-building, self-discovery and reflective activities, youth will demonstrate and be able to explain the importance of belonging, inclusion, generosity and mastery.
For the second-graders, Megan Hanefeldt, 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator for Nebraska Extension in Cedar and Knox counties, talked about what it meant to get a purple ribbon at the fair, and how that showed you did your very best. Then she related that to being a Purple Ribbon Kid and doing your best. Hanefeldt read a book called “The Most Magnificent Thing” and discussed it with the kids while she was reading about the challenges and frustrations that the girl in the book had and how she worked through them. She also talked about how the girl kept working to improve her “thing” to make it her best. Then she gave the kids just a piece of scrap construction paper and some eyes and challenged them to make a monster from it to show how even something so plain as a scrap of paper could become something magnificent with their efforts.
The third-grade students listened to the book “The Most Magnificent Thing.” A little girl and her canine assistant set out to make the most magnificent thing. But after much hard work, the end result is not what the girl had in mind. Frustrated, she quits. Her assistant suggests a long walk, and as they walk, it slowly becomes clear what the girl needs t o do to succeed.
For the activity, students used their imagination to create something magnificent with a piece of scrap paper. They included positive quotes in their final creations. Students had a few minutes to build a bridge made out of two plastic cups and a strip of paper that could hold 12 pennies.
