Lincoln Elementary School students and staff celebrate grand-prize winner, fourth grader Drew Beebe (front and center in the photo), whose drawing graces the school’s “Fill the Bucket” t-shirts. Submitted photo

Lincoln Elementary School fourth-grader Drew Beeb recently celebrated his drawing that graces the school’s “Fill the Bucket” t-shirts.

Because it was difficult to try to do Parents as Reading Partners (PARP) this year, the Lincoln Reading Team came up with a shorter one week theme based on the children’s book, Have You Filled the Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids. The book became the inspiration for a week of fun activities centered around being kind and filling others’ buckets. The t-shirt contest was one of the culminating activities of the week. Winners were selected from each grade level and one winner, Drew, was the grand prizewinner.

“Drew’s picture was chosen because it embodies the spirit and the lesson of the week,” said Katie Russo, Lincoln Elementary School principal. “Helping someone feel better is really what bucket filling is all about. Drew is a kid that goes out of his way to do that and we wanted to recognize that. The Lincoln staff is beyond proud of Drew for the tremendous growth he has made over the course of the last five years. We are excited for him to move onto middle school but I know I speak on behalf of everyone at Lincoln, that this sweet boy will be missed.”

Drew was so excited to win the contest but even more excited to promote kindness in his school.

“I think my drawing on the t-shirt may be a good example of fixing whom might be sad or lonely by being kind,” said Drew. “I was so surprised and proud that my drawing won the contest. It is important to be kind and help someone feel better. We can make a mad world a good world if we just love each other.”

Lincoln Elementary School truly makes it their mission to bring out the best in students and planning weeks like “Fill the Bucket Week” is one way to do that.

“We have seen many acts of kindness and bucket filling from so many of our students,” said Mrs. Russo. “We used the phrase ‘be a bucket filler’ for all the weeks after and kids tried their best to show that kindness to others.”

Next year, the week will be in October to coincide with Anti-bullying Month and they hope to do the contest again with all students being able to purchase a shirt.