On Friday, November 22, there was a special buzz in the air. If you happened to be walking in the hallways that morning, you may have heard bits and pieces of conversations, some being “Do I need a spoon too or do they give those out?” or “Did you bring your bowl?”You probably would have seen girls walking around with different unique brightly colored bowls, some girls supplying extra bowls brought “just in case” their friends forgot their own. You would also find out that there was a special schedule and an assembly in the morning. You would see how excited everyone was for the day to come. What is this special day?
Stone Soup is a much-loved tradition at NDP. It is a fun day for the students and the faculty, and it is also beneficial to the community. Leading up to Stone Soup day, each homeroom is assigned an ingredient to bring for the soup. Each girl brings in her ingredient, which is then added to the community bowl of soup on Stone Soup day. On that day, the girls buy their Stone Soup during lunch, and the money raised from the event goes to a certain charity.
This year’s Stone Soup assembly was about the Holistic Life Foundation. The Holistic Life Foundation teaches kids about mindfulness and yoga. The assembly included the two founders of the Holistic Life Foundation as well as one of their past students from their early starting years of the program. They taught us a few techniques for breathing mindfully. The techniques were very calming, and the whole school seemed to enjoy taking a moment from the rush right before break to stop everything… and breathe.
One of the cool things that the brothers said was that the kids were doing better in school and getting into trouble less because of the program. Another thing that was pretty cool was that one of the founders’ students from the early years now worked with them and helped change and improve kids’ lives through a program that he successfully went through years ago.
After the assembly, it was time for lunch. The line was huge, but it was worth the wait for the great-tasting soup. Everyone had a great day, and I think we are all looking forward to Stone Soup next year!
Picture courtesy Notre Dame Prep website: http://www.notredameprep.com/gallery/index.aspx?LinkID=197&ModuleID=372