Kidsday: Buckets of kindness

Our class read the book "How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids" by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer. Our class decided to create a bucket program.

We created a bulletin board and hung individual buckets with a name on each one. If a classmate does something kind, his bucket gets filled by other students. We started this program to remind us to be kind to others. If you do something bad, you get bucket-dipped, which means you don't get a credit. When a kid is mean, that is considered a bucket-dipper. Instead of being a bucket-dipper, be a bucket-filler. Our teacher usually decides if the bucket should be dipped.

Everyone should want to do good deeds for others. Doing good makes you feel good and makes someone else smile.

Pwen pals become friends

Our class writes to a fourth-grade class at Central Boulevard Elementary School in Bethpage every month. We learn how to use correct letter format when writing. We make new friends and share and compare information about our school. In May, we will get together and meet each other for lunch. We can't wait.

We also have pen pals in Sanford, N.C. We write to them monthly as well; we teach them about New York, and they teach us about North Carolina. We enjoy learning facts about a different state. They even sent us a plastic bag with cotton in it that grew near their school.

If you would like to make a new friend, you should look into getting a pen pal. Pen pals are the best.

--Kidsday Reporter Josephine Arana

Vaulting into gymnastics

I have been taking gymnastics since I was 6. You have to work really hard to be good at it. I go four days a week. I begin each lesson with stretching and conditioning.

On the vault, I do a front handspring. On the balance beam, I perform a routine. On the bars, I flip. On the floor, I do a routine and tumble. I compete against other gymnasts.

Last season, I won first place on the beam in my level for all of New York State. This season, I am lucky enough to be going to Florida to compete. Gymnastics is a great sport.

--Kidsday Reporter Jenna Devincenzo

CLASS OF THE WEEK: Therese O'Loughlin's fourth-grade class, MICHAEL F. STOKES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Island Trees