fandomhigh | Entries tagged with making a difference

"Last class," Kanan said, smiling faintly as he leaned back against the desk at the front of the classroom. "And like we said last week, we're going to pick up where we started, with Fandom Island starter packages for new students. Hope you spent the week considering what you'd put into these."

"Because of some earlier suggestions," Hera said, "we've got local audio recorders you can use if you want to, along with players to play things back. If you've got a line on cheap holoplayers, let us know, but otherwise we're skipping those. We've also done our best to get some of everything you suggested last week."

She waved at the front of the class. "We've got a bunch of different bags you can use to pack your kits in. Just pick the things you think would be most useful, pick a bag, and pack it up. Talk with each other or us as much as you like - anybody with good ideas, we definitely want you to share them!"

"If there's anything you'd like to put into these that we don't have here," Kanan added, "let us know. We can make a run to T&C to stock up, if need be."

"Except for spacer's tape, for some reason," Hera interrupted.

"Can't win 'em all," Kanan replied with a shrug. "Otherwise, we have... maps, we could probably do with a list of important businesses in town or something pointing out the safe places on them..."

Lots of things, really.

"Get creative. And get to it. Feel free to take them with you to hand out at the welcome picnic before next semester."

"And thank you all for helping out in this class," Hera said, smiling at them. "You've all made a difference in a lot of lives this semester, and I'm sure we're not the only ones appreciating it."

futurespacemom

"Welcome back," Hera said, smiling at them. "And, um...try to avoid those lights." There were a few strands in the corner that Chopper was standing guard over, shocking them if they looked like they were moving too close. "Next week is our final. We started out this class by discussing what might make new students' lives easier here, so for our last day, we'll be making care packages of information and anything you might think is useful for them. Remember to bring in anything you might want to use, or let us know if there's anything you can think of for us to bring in."

"It can't hurt," Kanan noted, "for you to take a little bit of time this week to consider what things were like for you when you were first adjusting to life on the island. Is there anything you wished you had been told right from the get-go? How about things to make life easier once Fandom actually began to prove all the crazy things people warned you about were true? Take the next week to think that over. We'll put together those care packages then, and you can each take one with you. Maybe you'll get a chance to present it to a new student next month."

"Today," Hera said, "we'll be discussing what you did over the past week to make someone's day brighter. Tell us what you did, and if it worked or not, and how that might mean you do these sorts of things in future."

"And if doing those things impacted your own day in any particular way, let us know that, too," Kanan added. "Not that any of us are in this for our own benefit, necessarily, but it can't hurt to take note if making others happy happens to make you happy, too."

uncertain_dume

"We've been doing a lot of charity work lately," Hera said, "but this class is about helping in all kinds of ways, big and small, and that's not the only way there is to help. Today we'll be doing something smaller."

"Spreading nice thoughts," Kanan said, leaning back against the desk, arms crossed over his chest. "Good feelings. Slip a friendly note in a book in the library where somebody might find it. Put words of encouragement on a public 'fresher mirror with a sticky note. Smile at someone who needs a smile. Say 'hello' to someone who looks like they could use a friendly greeting."

"Never underestimate what just being nice can do," Hera continued. "You could really make someone's day. You could turn them around, and they could turn someone else around. Compliment something about a person. If you've got credits, pay for their coffee. Offer to help carry something. Heck, if you're the artistic type," she knew who she was looking at, "just paint 'YOU ARE GREAT AND PEOPLE LIKE YOU' in large letters on...something someone doesn't mind painted. Or paint it on paper and wrap that around a wall."

Kanan was giving Hera an amused glance. Oh no, she was encouraging that? He was going to have to show her his office door at some point.

Hera had already been warned she was creating - or at least encouraging - a monster, here. She was unrepentant.

"So," Kanan said, looking back at the class, "you're welcome to stick around here for the rest of the class period to brainstorm, or set out into the wild now to get a head start on today's assignment, but what we'd like for you to do is find some way to improve somebody's day. Call it homework. Make a week out of it."

"If you have any really great ideas, please share them, too," Hera said. "Working together is another way to make things better."

[OOC: Open!]

futurespacemom

"Today is a day in many versions of this country," Hera began, "where there are a lot of sales on goods. It is also," she cautioned, "a day where a lot of people get pretty crazy about shopping, so be careful as we're going around. We'll be working on two things today - one, we'll be getting as many toys as we can for kids who might not get any otherwise. Two, we'll be trying to defuse any arguments or problems we encounter and not being jerks."

"I'm terrible at this one," Kanan supplied. "Someone's probably going to kiss the floor before this period is through."

At least if Kanan made it happen, they probably really had it coming, right?

... Right?

"You've each got a fifty dollar gift card," he added. "Earth's got a big gift-giving holiday coming up in just over a month, and today's the best day of the year, so I'm told, to make good use of it. There are charities to donate toys to for those kids who wouldn't otherwise get a gift on that holiday. Try to avoid anything that might require additional parts in order to use - just because there's a sale on the big gaming system doesn't mean these children will ever be able to use one without a television or the games. Board games, though? Those should be fine. Bicycles, sports sets, dolls... Your challenge today is going to be to think about what toy a child in a difficult situation will be able to make the best use of... while not getting trampled by the crowd."

He grimaced a little.

"If crowds make you uneasy, feel free to put that money to use in the less busy parts of the store, buying wrapping paper, or maybe canned goods to donate to a food bank instead."

futurespacemom

Class was back in the classroom this week, mostly because the crotchety orange droid that had taken it upon himself to make certain the teachers actually did their job today was not about to babysit a whole gaggle of tiny children on the mainland, so help him. At the front of the room, then, there was A) The aforementioned cranky droid, B) A tiny Twi'lek girl, C) An even tinier Jedi Youngling, and D) The itty-bitty roly-poly rainbow-spotted puppy that he was carrying around with him.

Why he had an itty-bitty roly-poly puppy was possibly the only thing Caleb hadn't questioned today.

The lecture began, unlike most lectures, with a rant, at length, from the astromech in question, bleeping and blatting away in binary, making gestures with his little arm to further illustrate his point.

The point he was making was rather rude, in case anybody was wondering.

"Oh! Um, hi, everybody. I'm Caleb, and this is Hera, and this is C1-10P and THIS is a wolf puppy that I'm calling Kyber." Poor Stance. "And C1-10P is saying we should talk to you about sharing or something."

Plus all of the rude words he'd used besides, but Caleb wasn't supposed to repeat those.

"He says his name is Chopper," Hera said overly patiently. "It's not just C1-10P, he's got a real name." Okay, so it was maybe a little less 'patient' and a little more 'stubborn'. She hugged him and got yelled at in binary for it. "You're grumpy," she told him, "but that's okay." She had a notable ~~French~~ Ryloth accent.

She bounced on her toes a little. "But we're gonna talk about sharing! Sharing is good. Some people have things and some people don't, and that makes people unhappy. But then you share, and it makes everybody happier!"

"So..." Caleb looked uncertainly at Chopper, and then down at the puppy in his arms, all chubby and small and round and wriggly. "So today we're all going to take turns sharing Kyber. But you have to be gentle, he's still really small, okay?" He glanced back at Chopper again. "Are you sure we can't share C1-- um. Chopper instead? He's less breakable."

But Stance didn't have a built-in stunner, Caleb.

"We can share Chopper too, sure!" Hera said, throwing out her arms. "Everybody share nice, and you too, Chopper!" Yeah, that'd work.

Chopper grumbled but stood still. Hera patted him on the head.

You really brought this one onto yourself, Chop.

uncertain_dume

Class had been ~~handwavily~~ asked to meet at Portalocity today, and the teachers greeted them when they arrived.

"We've found a place that we can help out and not have to disguise ourselves or pretend we're in costumes," Hera said with no little amount of relief. "So we're heading into that version of the mainland today."

"About kriffing time Portalocity actually pulls through on something," Kanan muttered, and then shook his head and smiled crookedly. "We'll be doing a little bit of construction work today, for an organization called Habitat for Humanoids."

Elsewhere known as 'Humanity,' but again, if you play with the multiverse, you get what you get.

"They build houses for people that need them, and that's what we'll be doing today," Hera said. "Well, we'll probably be doing more carrying things for people than actual building, but anything we can do will help. If you have any particular skills you can use, please let us or the foreman in charge know." She smiled. "We'll be building this house for a family that hasn't had one since their last one was flooded out; this is one way communities band together to help each other, and they'll be happy to have anyone help that can."

"Oh," Kanan said, grinning a little as he waved the students through the portal. "And safety equipment isn't optional."

Fortunately, because of the nature of this place, there should even be... something... for Sidon.

Just roll with it, students.

futurespacemom

This week, your teachers were both here, in their regular shape, and looking far more relaxed than usual. A couple of days of accidental vacation on a tropical forest moon would do that, really.

"We're sticking around here today," Kanan said, giving the class a little grin. He had a cup of caf in one hand. It was entirely possible they were fresh through the portal, because yes, it was absolutely a to-go cup with Aurebesh writing on it. "Hera and I managed to procure some emergency medical supplies over the past couple of days, and there's a refugee camp back home that can put these to some good use, so we're putting together care packages today."

"When people have to flee their homes, they tend to need food and medicine, plus things like blankets and maybe small toys or notes to indicate someone cares. Hope is important," Hera said. "We've got a lot of different things to pack up today, and lists of what goes in each pack."

"We, uh, did some shopping over the past few days," Kanan said, gesturing to a small mountain of crates that had been pushed into the classroom, probably all the way from Hera's ship. "Mostly medical supplies, though there are some comfort items, a few books, non-perishable food, that sort of thing. We've written out lists of what each item is, since I don't imagine most of you can read the language," silly Earth and its lack of Aurebesh, "and it'll be up to you to sort through the supplies and make certain each care package gets a little bit of everything."

"If you have any questions, you can always ask," Hera said. "And if you want to write a note and you don't know Aurebesh, we can help with that, too." She smiled. "I know they'll appreciate whatever you can do to help."

uncertain_dume

"It's getting late in the year," Hera said, "but that means two things for local gardens and farms - one, between harvest season for the last few crops of the year and getting ready for the winter, there's a lot to do; and two, that nobody will care what we look like, because it's that time of year." Yay Halloween?

"Growing their own food is one way for people to provide for themselves and to feel productive. It's jobs and food in one." Hera smiled a little sadly. "For some people, it may be all they have. For others, it's a way of giving back. For some it's both."

"And to that end, some communities have set aside plots of land where people can volunteer their time to plant and tend to gardens intended to provide food for those who might otherwise have difficulty getting enough fresh food," Kanan said, arms crossed over his chest, smiling just slightly. "Hopefully you didn't dress in anything you mind getting dirty, because this week, we're going to be doing some gardening. We've got two tasks to take care of today; if you want to get down in the dirt, there are some late-season vegetables left to harvest. Squash and such. If you'd rather not go digging, there are plants that need to be wrapped in preparation for the winter."

"Pay attention to the gardeners and do what they ask," Hera said. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no idea how to grow Earth food, so let's assume they know better than we do."

futurespacemom

Hera wasn't entirely sure about their plans for this week now that Kanan was furrier than usual.

Fortunately, there was a ready-made excuse today.

She sent a text to everybody in the class: Today you can make a difference by attending the carnival, helping out, and supporting your school. See you next week!

uncertain_dume

"Hi there." Class had been ~~handwavily~~ instructed to meet at Portalocity again, and when they got there the teachers were waiting, Hera with an armful of shirts like the one that she was wearing. "Thanks to Sabine's suggestions, we'll be wearing these instead of using those things again." The shirts said 'Fandom High Costume Society'. "Apparently they work just about as well."

"They're about three-hundred percent less weird," Kanan said, already wearing his. He'd made a half-assed effort to even look like he was wearing a costume with it, pulling on his long coat over the t-shirt and the wide-brimmed hat he'd stolen from the costume room at the Groovy Tunes, back when it was still the Boards. "It's still not ideal, pretending to be costumes, but Hera and I are both of the opinion that nobody in this room should have to hide, either."

"Right." Hera nodded decisively. She definitely preferred doing it this way. "Besides, today we're going to be helping out kids, and they'll probably love it."

"Kids get a kick out of a lot of kind of surprising things," Kanan agreed, and then shrugged. "In any case, today we're going to a library on the mainland. There's an event that lets kids pair off with an older student, say, you guys, so they can work on their reading. All you have to do is sit together, and read."

"If anybody's High Galactic - or English, I suppose - isn't that great, don't worry," Hera said. "Apparently you can also have them read to you, and that's okay too. Though, maybe find one of the older kids."

Unless you wanted a toddler reading you Green Eggs and Ham. You do you.

Honestly, Kanan was kind of tempted to see how that went anyway.

"So, through the portal," he said. "We'll get you paired off with a kid or two, and our next hour will be spent reading."

futurespacemom

Once again, the group was asked to meet in the classroom, which had extra cushioning set out in case anybody's visitors decided to accompany them. The teachers were at the front of the room - Kanan kneeling on the floor, Hera sitting next to him - waiting for people to settle in before getting started.

There was coffee on a table near the door. It wasn't meant to be a bribe for the parents.

Except it was maybe a little bit of a bribe for the parents.

"Welcome back, class," Kanan said, in that tone of voice that was completely relaxed, honest, and really just the act of starting a class with 'welcome back class' was a perfectly casual and normal thing to do, why were you people looking at him that way? "So, in the past few weeks, we've done a few smaller projects. Soup kitchen volunteering, cleaning up litter around the island. This week we're going to ask all of you what you," and possibly your not-at-all-terrifying visitors, "would like us to be doing."

( Kanan hated Parents Weekend so much. )

futurespacemom

"We're going to try something a little different today." Which Hera had decidedly mixed feelings about.

"And it isn't mandatory by any means," Kanan said, sporting his very own set of mixed feelings on the matter. "But we found a few holographic devices in a storage closet..."

Hera held one up, and with a dubious look on her face, pressed a button. The hologram came into play, and now she looked like herself...only human. "These will make it easier for us to interact with people over the causeway that aren't used to other species. Again, they are definitely not mandatory, though. Anyone who doesn't want to use them, we'll figure it out."

She'd admit she was curious about interacting with mainland people, but it still felt a little wrong. She turned the device off again. "The point of today isn't to draw attention, though; it's to help out at what is locally called a 'soup kitchen'."

Kanan had absolutely been staring at Hera with the holo on, yes. Mostly in bemusement.

"That is so weird," he supplied. "But... yeah. Today we're heading to a soup kitchen in town to serve food to people who otherwise have none. Our job will more or less be to stand there with a ladle and give people food as they walk by. It's not difficult work, at least not in a physical sense, but if you need to take a break for any reason, feel free to tap myself or Hera in and we'll cover for you."

Hera nodded. "Other than that, please be polite and follow the instructions of the people that run the place. If you have any problems with that, again, come and get one of us." She looked around. "Our portal should be here any second. Any questions before we leave?"

uncertain_dume

Class had been ~~handwavily~~ sent e-mail this morning, and there was also a note on the classroom door directing them to meet at the park. When they got there, Hera was carrying a large, sturdy plastic bag. "Communities are places where people live together. Every one of them has some sort of shared space, even if it's just the walkways between apartments. Nobody that I've met ever likes them dirty. So unless you're part dia noga, it's considerate to clean up after yourself. Even if everybody does, though, there's always some things that end up as clutter and junk."

"It's pretty easy to just skip by that stuff and tell yourself it isn't your problem," Kanan noted, leaning back casually against a nearby tree. He'd been eyeing the sky, but it looked as though the rain would hold off at least for another hour or two. "But sooner or later, it'll become somebody's problem. Maybe a kid steps on some broken glass, or somebody's pet eats something they really shouldn't have. It takes all of a second to bend over and pick up a piece of trash. Small gesture that adds up, over time."

"Yesterday there was a party in the park, and I'm sure they did their best, but there's only so much cleaning you can figure out in the dark," Hera said. "So we're going to do our part to help them, and hopefully they'll return the favor if anything of ours ever makes a mess. Because we're a community."

Squirrels probaby didn't have great night vision for tidying trash, anyway.

"We have a box of bags, black for garbage and clear for recyclables," Kanan shared. "Take one, find a partner, and let's do a wander of the park. If we run out of litter there, we can move on and do some cleanup around the rest of town, too. Maybe the beach. Plenty of stuff just washes up there after the tides."

Hera held out a package of latex gloves. "If you find anything too awful, you can wear these to pick it up, though hopefully it won't be too bad. Everybody ready?"

Kanan nodded, and then made a reach for his own bag.

"Go, run, be free. Just pick up some garbage while you do it. When your bag is full or the hour is up, drop it off in the junkyard, and then go enjoy the rest of your," probably about to get rainy, "day."

futurespacemom

"Hi, everybody." Hera waved at them from her cushiony perch. "I hope you all had a good week and got a chance to do something nice for someone. Today we're going to start making a difference. It's been suggested that it'd be a good idea to make packets for new students, to help them out. I thought before anything else, we could brainstorm what belongs on a list like that. Information, goods, whatever you can think of."

"Really, this is the sort of thing I wish someone had handed to me when I was new to the island," Kanan noted, from where he was once again kneeling on the floor like the stubborn dumbass Jedi that he was. "You know, back when I didn't know about gremlins or how strings of beads might randomly rain from the sky or that I should probably invest in a bra for the very, very odd weekend."

So odd.

"Or that I should keep random fabric around in the event all the shirts decided to disappear. Or be prepared to cook if my roommate suddenly turns into a kid." Sorry, Caleb. "Not to mention I could barely read the script around here."

"From what I've heard, there have been people who needed to teach themselves the local alphabet from back to front," Kanan sighed. "These are things nobody thinks to ask when you're new. I'm lucky I already knew High Galactic, myself."

"Then there's other things," Hera said. "The school gives you rooms, but maybe extra blankets for winter? Or...apparently phones are important?" She shrugged. "I'm sure there are other things you can think of."

"There are always other things you can think of," Kanan agreed. "Spend some time brainstorming things you wish you'd been warned of or prepared for when you were new, and come up with solutions so that maybe the next people who come along with have an easier time of it than you did."

uncertain_dume

Since it seemed to be the in thing this semester, and since one of their students was roughly the size of a large hovercar, it had seemed prudent to denude yet another classroom of its desks and seats in favor of comfortable cushions on the floor.

... Kanan was kneeling directly on the floor, however. Sitting on a cushion seemed like cheating to him, somehow.

Hera was using a cushion. It was soft, and she saw no reason not to.

( Hey, Guys. )

Fandom High RPG

About the Game

---       Master Game Index
---       IC Community Tags
---       Thinking of Joining?
---       Application Information
---       Existing Character Directory

In-Character Comms

School and Grounds
---       Fandom High School
---       Staff Lounge
---       TA Lounge
---       Student Dorms

Around the Island
---       Fandom Town
---       Fandom Clinic

Communications
---       Radio News Recaps
---       Student Newspaper
---       IC Social Media Posts

Off-Island Travel
---       FH Trips

Once Upon a Time...
---       FH Wishverse AU

Out-of-Character Comms

---       Main OOC Comm
---       Plot Development
---       OOC-but-IC Fun

⚙

Disclaimer

Fandom High is a not-for-profit text-based game/group writing exercise, featuring fictional characters and settings from a variety of creators, used without permission but for entertainment purposes only.

Navigation

Fandom High School

Entries tagged with making a difference

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways, Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways, Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways, Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways, Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways, Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways, Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways | Friday, Period 3

Pay It Forward: Making a Big Difference in Little Ways, Friday, Period 3

Fandom High RPG

Tags