Loving Hands Danielle Luce, Mason County Eastern Middle School, Custer, MI Grade Level: 6-8

I am responsible for the bulletin board in the middle school hallway. For February, I had students in our middle school, grades 6 to 8, choose either white, red, or pink paper to trace their hand on and cut out. I covered the bulletin board with white paper and stapled a heart border around the sides. I arranged the hands the students cut out into the shape of a heart in the middle of the board, randomly placing the hands to fill in the heart. Then, around the outside of the heart, in red marker I wrote the following quote: "The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands." - by Robert M. Persig. This quote not only fit my bulletin board theme perfectly, it also complemented our school character theme of trustworthines, integrity, and honesty quote of the month. The students get a kick out of trying to figure out which hand is theirs, because no identifying marks are on the front or the back of the hands. Also, if you don't staple too much of the hand, the fingers will fray a bit and give a "frilly" effect to the board.