A Heartwarming Initiative: "The Children Wanted to Thank the Maintenance Workers, So We Invited Them to the Kindergarten"

Did you leave the house today? Walked on a clean street and stepped on a sidewalk free of litter? Have you considered that someone worked hard to ensure you could enjoy walking around the street comfortably? Have you thought for a moment about the sanitation and cleaning workers?

Even if we don't always remember to thank the dedicated cleaning workers, it turns out there are children who are very concerned about this topic. Last week, the social kindergartens in Rishon LeZion – 'Sabar Kindergarten', 'Stars in a Bucket Kindergarten', 'Golden Lilies Kindergarten', and 'Peace Kids Kindergarten' – held a special appreciation day in honor of the city’s cleaning workers.

"We saw it as a mission and also a great privilege," educators Yishai and Yael Goldberg say enthusiastically. Yishai is the manager of 'Sabar Kindergarten' while Yael manages 'Peace Kids Kindergarten'. Together, they led this unique initiative and share their impressions with great excitement.

Thanks to the Cleaning Workers

"The truth is that the idea for the project started three years ago," shares Yishai, "I participated in a workshop for a group of educators called 'Trailblazing Educators', where we learned how to turn our plans from potential to reality, and how to make our dreams for kindergarten activities feasible and doable. From that workshop, I returned with the decision to start working on a 'Good Words' project. I shared this with Yael, and it became a joint program for our two kindergartens, where each month we introduce a 'Good Word' and focus a lot on the word and its meaning, its power, when it can be used, and so on until we eventually arrived at the word 'Thank you.'"

Yishai (background: shutterstock)

"At the same time, unrelated to the project, we taught the children about various professions," adds Yael, "and even invited parents to the kindergarten to tell the children about their jobs and enrich their understanding of the world. Finally, we decided to combine both initiatives and told the children about 'people working in the most important professions,' namely the city’s cleaning workers, and emphasized how important it is to remember to say thank you to them, as they help us live in a clean and pleasant environment."

The children, according to them, were captivated and participated wonderfully. "We asked the children how we could thank the cleaning workers," Yishai continues, "and the ideas we received from them were creative and wonderful. The children said that since we have a clean street thanks to them, it would be fitting to decorate the street around the kindergarten, and that's indeed what we did. We wrote the word 'Thank you' and decorated the street, and then one of the children suggested making medals for the cleaning workers, as we do in the kindergarten for children who excel, and so we did. The children also wanted to prepare them certificates of appreciation, refreshments, and songs, and of course, we implemented everything with great excitement and a strong desire to express gratitude".

Yael (background: shutterstock)

An Emotional Appreciation Event

Yishai and Yael approached the City of Rishon LeZion and in collaboration led to a special appreciation event unprecedented in the city's history, where over 30 cleaning workers visited the four social kindergartens of Rishon LeZion and participated in a ceremony held for one purpose only: to thank them.

"A very special chemistry was created between the workers and the kindergarten children," Yishai says excitedly, "they sat with them, told them about their work, and received refreshments, certificates, and medals. Afterwards, we sang together and felt that there was such a great contribution. The children learned to respect others, and also understood that every job is dignified, and mainly saw up close that it's not that the street or playground cleans itself, but there are people who work hard to make it happen, and we need to remember to thank them. Only a few days have passed, and every day the children come to kindergarten and tell me: 'I saw the cleaning worker in the street and said thank you and good morning,' this proves to me that the message was transmitted and received. I really hope we can repeat the initiative in the coming years, and hopefully more kindergartens throughout the city will join".

"And I hope," Yael adds, "that we will always know how to thank and see the people around us, not only the cleaning workers, but every person in the world. There's no doubt it will make all of our lives more beautiful".