JOSEPH KONY IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S WORST WAR CRIMINALS AND I SUPPORT THE INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO ARREST HIM, DISARM THE LRA AND BRING THE CHILD SOLDIERS HOME.

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Middle school students on their way to spread the love to the children of CHOC.

One student at a time, teacher Kari Woods wants to change the world by asking kids to Spread the Love.

That's the name of a club she has formed at Bernice Ayer Middle School in San Clemente, where she teaches. On Friday, as students were about to head out on a two-week holiday break, Spread the Lovemembers had one more task to do when school let out.

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PHOTOS

Story and Photos

by Carol Hogan

Sixth grade teacher, Kari Athena Woods knows there’s more than one way to teach an idea, and last December she presented an idea to her class at Marco Forster Middle School that has taken off beyond her wildest dreams.

“I remember seeing bumper stickers a couple of years ago that said ‘Stop the Hate’ and ‘Stop the Violence’, and it occurred to me that we need to take it up a notch now,” Woods said. “At this point in history with kids, with family members, what we need to do is spread the love.  I think its something that’s not taught enough to kids and in school.”So she suggested the class distribute a bumper sticker that said “Spread the Love.”  It would simply remind people to love each other.  The students loved the idea.  Woods paid for the bumper stickers to be printed then distributed several to each student, with one caveat: “Let’s see how far we can really spread the love.” Students were to give them to family and friends for Christmas.  “My goal was to spread it across the nation,” Woods said. “Some of the kids mentioned they had family members in other countries, and they actually sent them around the world.”

During a recent class, students shared where the stickers went.  One gave it to her mom, sister and sister’s boyfriend, and another sent one to a cousin and his wife in the war in Iraq.  One went to a family in England, another to grandparents in Mexico, another to a cousin who’s been to jail twice.  “I thought it was nice to give him one cause his life is kind of messed up,” the student said.

Hailey Hammond, 11, was selected by the class to describe what they expect as the project moves forward.  “I think it’s going to affect the world,” she said.  “Ms. Woods has been inspiring our class to keep getting ideas and I think we’re going to follow through with pretty much all of them.”

They are currently in the process of mailing bumper stickers to the governor’s of all 50 states.  In order to purchase more they plan a car wash where every car will get a sticker, a bake sale open to the public on Feb. 4 and they’re considering a raffle and swap meet. But the biggest project is selling T-shirts – with an iron-on logo designed by Hammond and Dakota Calicchio, 11, to wear when the class marches with the Swallow’s Day Parade.  “They’ll be sold to students who want to march with the class, “ Hammond said. They plan to invite the entire sixth grade – 600 students – to march with them. 

“My goal is to get the whole sixth grade team involved,” Woods said.  “It’s amazing.  You plant a seed in the kid’s heads and they’ll go to the moon with it, they’ve exceeded my expectations,” Woods said. “You can plant the seed of hate or you can plant the seed of love and peace.  The fact that 11 and 12 year old kids are making a difference in the world already, imagine what they’ll do as adults. Woods considers this her contribution to the world.  “What we teach them (is what) they’re going to create and what our world’s going to look like 30 years from now,” she said.