WORTHINGTON -- By cuddling a plush Be-Calm Bunny in their hands, Southwest Minnesota Opportunity Council Head Start students will soon be able to get their classmates' attention.
The Be-Calm Bunny is part of the Second Step Pre-K Educational Curriculum recently purchased with $3,000 in grant money from the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, via Worthington Eagles Club Women's Auxiliary No. 3282.
"It teaches kids social skills, how to share, how to deal with their feelings, empathy skills, problem-solving and getting along with others," said Audrey Lundy, SMOC Head Start's Mental Health/Disabilities Coordinator.
Any child holding the bunny has the floor and shouldn't be interrupted by classmates.
Lundy wrote the grant request asking for money for the educational materials in October 2006.
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Since then, the grant request has progressed through the hands of local Eagles Auxiliary secretary Elayne Murray and then to those of Neil Rothbarth, a Minnesota state Eagles officer.
The grant eventually made its way to the Eagles headquarters in Grove City, Ohio, where it was accepted.
Although sometimes grants get sent back to their writers for editing, Lundy's grant went through the process successfully and was returned, accepted, last week.
The money came from the Eagles Jimmy Durante Children's Fund and had to go directly to educational materials for children.
Thanks to Lundy and the Eagles, whose slogan is "People Helping People," all the kids in the four-county-wide SMOC Head Start classes will get to take turns holding a Be-Calm Bunny. They'll also experience puppet shows featuring Impulsive Puppy and Slow-Down Snail.
"It's how to calm down and how to slow down instead of being yip-yip-yip like the puppy," Lundy explained.
Other features of the curriculum are lesson cards, unit cards, classroom posters, parent involvement materials, videos and CDs. The program comes in both Spanish and English.
SMOC Head Start serves 191 children ages 3 through 5 from Murray, Nobles, Rock and Pipestone counties.
