Many schools make it a rule to check students’ school bags. They do this for a variety of reasons, many of which are linked to keeping pupils safe. Schools do not want anything dangerous or distracting kids from their schooling to find their way inside. Recent years have seen many terrible accidents happening in schools, making both teachers and parents worried about the problem.

Mrs. Nabors, a teacher at Jefferson Elementary, feels that all of her kids understand what materials they are not permitted to bring to school. This explains why she seldom takes trouble to do a bag check in her class. However, last Friday Mrs. Nabors and her students had just finished their morning work when the teacher realized something seemed to be wrong, so she suddenly declared to the class that the bag search was about to begin. On hearing the announcement, all her pupils quickly placed their bags on the desk, waiting for checking.

Searching the school bags one by one, she didn’t find anything that isn’t permitted to bring to school. What she saw were things usually seen in Elementary school pupils’ school bags: text books, pencil boxes, calculators (计算器), snacks and food for lunch. Nearly all the students accepted the check peacefully, and some even offered to give the teacher a hand. There was one girl, though, who was watching everything in anxiety. When it’s her turn to be checked, eyes to eyes, Mrs. Nabors’ immediately sensed that the second-grader was carrying more than simply a forbidden game in her luggage.

When the teacher went to get the bag, she noticed something moving within. She’ d seen a lot of unusual things that kids had slipped in, but the wiggling (扭动) shape was new to her. She had never discovered anything disturbing … until then.

When Mrs. Nabors unzipped the bag, she found two puppy eyes staring back at her.

To know why the girl took the dog to school, Mrs. Nabors took her to her office.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!

Thank you for listening!

Amanda lived in a big modern city. Due to the high-speed development of economy, families from different backgrounds came here to find a better life. Amanda’s classmate and friend, Rama, was from one of those families.

One day after school, Amanda and Rama were chatting and Rama mentioned how much she missed her friends and hometown. “It is hard to leave,” Rama sighed, “but my family needed to be somewhere that is easier to make a living. Holding Rama’s hands, Amanda encouraged her to share more and she knew Rama loved to sing and dance with her friends back in her hometown.

After learning about Rama’s story, Amanda started to notice more students like Rama in her school. For the first time she realized that those students looked sad in their eyes. Sometimes because of their different accents, they couldn’t communicate well with others, which made them always sit or stand silently at the back of the classroom.

“They are having a hard time, we should show them kindness and love!” she told her mother one day. Amanda asked her mother what she could do to help make them feel welcome. Amanda’s mother suggested, “What about using art? Maybe it will be easier to communicate through art.” Amanda thought for a while and nodded. Like her friend Rama, Amanda loved all forms of art, like painting, singing, dancing, and performing, through which she could tell different stories about her family, and her life.

The next day, Amanda went to the Activity Center in her school and proposed her plan of an art show. The officer thought it a great idea. Inspired and excited, Amanda set about her plan with several friends. At the Activity Center they filled a room with paper, paint and pencils. They even made a small stage! Everything ready, they invited all the new students in her school and Amanda encouraged them to share something special about their hometown in any art form. To Amanda’s surprise, no one responded.

Amazingly, Rama stepped forward to break the ice.

Everything seemed to change after that art show.