Strength of the Week – Curiosity
Curiosity… as I wondered earlier this year… where we would be without it? What innovations would we be missing in our daily lives? Einstein is credited with saying I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious, and Rose Wilder Lane, journalist and political theorist, and daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder (whom some of you may remember) said Curiosity is the hunger of the human mind.
This week we celebrate Health and Wellbeing Week and RUOK? Day… and in the myriad of activities present, curiosity was there. Curiosity at the petting zoo, curiosity in Founders Hall to see who was going to win the best shot… curiosity in asking those around us RUOK?…curiosity in the school yard whilst boxes of healthy fruit were distributed to students what is a tangelo?… and in the classroom activities and presentations that focused on building our wellbeing.
Over the course of the week, the messaging on social media reflected some ideas that could help us be curious about our habits towards strengthening the pillars of our wellbeing – positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment and health. What if we just shifted them a little further along the continuum – I wonder what difference this would make to ourselves and to our community?
This week, girls in Years 8 were engaged in a presentation that focused on building belonging, while Year 8 Boys attended a presentation of the RESET curriculum, prepared by the Butterfly Foundation to work on positive body image. Contemporary research indicates that Body Image issues continue to be a pressing concern for our young people. In a proactive approach, this presentation asked students to engage with curiosity as they reflected on what shapes appearance ideals and the way that these impact on us.
The underlying message of both sessions was to be curious about what makes each one of us who we are and to embrace our own unique nature, without giving too much attention to what can be damaging comparisons that are often heightened by social media platforms. We are all made in the image of God, and each of us is special in our own way and we should celebrate this more consciously, every day. In lifting ourselves and those around us up, we build the community’s vision of being known, valued and cared for. This also reflects the messaging of wristbands distributed to Year 7-9 students encouraging the idea that we are ‘stronger together’.
While these are just several examples of the many opportunities students have to stretch this strength every day, there would literally be hundreds of others across our community!
Our Vision and Mission focuses on the strength of curiosity, as the muscle behind innovation… we seek to be empowered to explore our curiosities, in all their contexts, and become the leaders and learners of the world.
Have a safe and happy weekend ahead!
Tonia Carfora, Year 7-9 Wellbeing Initiatives Leader
