This past week Yavneh Academy seven7th graders decorated stuffed animals for ill children as part of the “Do Good Doggies” program. This program is a culmination of their unit in Advisory, “When Life Gives You Lemons,” which focuses upon the ability to cope with adversity in life. In their Advisory lessons students learn about resiliency and how to bounce back from disappointment in life. They learn other coping skills like positive self-talk, combating negative thinking, stress management, affirmations and self-esteem boosts. All these lessons culminate in the children decorating stuffed animals with positive thoughts for ill children in the hospital. Before beginning the decorating, they were trained by Mrs. Shifra Srolovitz, a Child Life specialist from NYU Hospital, in the “dos and don’ts” of encouraging ill children. Mrs. Srolovitz shared the experience that children who are ill go through and what strategies they employ to help them cope. The students used that new understanding to employ empathy as they decorated the doggies with encouraging and inspiring messages and cheerful drawings. The stuffed animals will be delivered to Valley Hospital to be given to the children.