Peter and I visited 50 schools this past year and spoke live on video chat with another 20. I'm constantly energized by the cards and letters we receive because they confirm that our message about differences, friendship, and kindness is being heard by students.
Peter Shows Different is Cool
Peter likes to tell students that being different is cool, and he proudly talks about his own unique appearance. Kids become comfortable with his differences and even start to realize how cool some of his "equipment" is. By the end of Peter's talk he has students wishing they could hang a magnet from their head and remove an ear!
Peter Empowers Students to Show off Their Differences
The importance of how this is impacting other kids with visible differences really hit me at one of our last assemblies this year. We were greeting students as they came into the assembly and several were waving and had signs to show us. Two of the students were extra enthusiastic and proudly showed us what was different about them. How cool is that?! They wanted to show Peter how their thumbs are bent, which is actually pretty neat because Peter's left thumb is different too. Peter has a hypoplastic thumb (missing muscle), which is sometimes part of having Goldenhar Syndrome.
I was touched by how empowered these students were to embrace their own differences and to show them off. It's a message I've always hoped was getting through, but this really confirmed it for me. These are the moments we are so proud to be part of. This is the conversation that must continue. We are planning even greater things for next school year, so stay tuned! Better yet, subscribe to our email list so you'll be the first to hear about everything we're planning.
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