Ripley-Huron Community School -Bluewater District School Board - Who Is NOBODY?

Cheryl Wilken’s grade 1/2 class at Ripley Huron Community School (RHCS) took on a new project this year to turn a ‘nobody’ into a ‘somebody.’

We heard from other schools it was a great project— Cheryl Wilken, teacher
Last November, the class received a package containing a plain, faceless doll called ‘Nobody.’ Their mission was to perform good deeds to help others, animals or the earth in order to transform Nobody into ‘Somebody’ as part of the ‘Who is Nobody?’ project.

This is the first year a class at RHCS took part in the project.

“We heard from other schools it was a great project,” said Wilken.

Each of the 19 children in her class got the opportunity to take Nobody home for a weekend. Their assignment was to do something to help another person, an animal, or the environment. Afterwards, some sort of souvenir pertaining to the project was attached to Nobody. All the mementos of good deeds changed Nobody into Somebody by the end of the year.

“They love it,” Wilken said about her students adding she’s, “really surprised sometimes with what they come up with.”

Ripley-Huron Community School -Bluewater District School Board - Who Is NOBODY?

Students Ryan Watson and Sophie Twolan from Ripley-Huron Community School stand with the transformed Nobody doll.

Children in her class have raked lawns, donated clothes and food, volunteered at a nursing home and given money to ‘Me to We,’ a children’s hospital as well as the music program at RHCS.

Grade two student Ryan Watson donated some of his toys to First Response. He said his parents helped him come up with the idea and he had fun giving away some train tracks and trucks.

Sophie Twolan (grade one) helped out at the Wingham vet clinic. She made posters to help a ten-week-old puppy find a home and said he was adopted a week later.

Sophie also said she had fun and she would do it again.

Along with performing the good deeds, each participant presented their experience to the rest of the class. There were also presentations at full-school assemblies to share the project with other classes.

All of the projects are collected into a scrapbook being sent home with a different child each night to show their parents.

“Parents really enjoy it,” said Wilken.

With such a good response from the school community, Wilken plans to do the project again next year.

For more information about the ‘Who is Nobody?’ project, visit www.whoisnobody.com

This article was published in the Kincardine News on June 18th 2013