ARK serves special ed lunch

By Melody Li

Last Thursday, ARK (Acts of Random Kindness) hosted a luncheon for the special education students and staff during lunch in the Jackson Gym.

“The purpose of our club is to spread kindness around the school, so we should reach every nook and cranny.  We do things for students and faculty, so we wanted to do something for special-ed (students) because they’re also part of PHHS,” expresses President Lily Li.

Before the event took place, ARK members sent out invitations that included a questionnaire for the special-ed students to help ARK customize the theme, food and decorations.  This year’s theme was “Picnic in the P-ARK” with a picnic themed menu and decorations.

“Officers coordinate with the special-ed teachers a month before the event and we send out invites that included questions about their allergies, their favorite sports, activities and more,” says Publicist Nancy Li.

Besides serving food to the special education students, the members also sat down to eat with them, got to know them and took pictures together.

“We want to build bridges between students and the special-ed (department) because we usually don’t have time to befriend them since they have different schedules from others students,” comments Board Member Andy Do.

This is the second time ARK hosted their special-ed luncheon and officers hope for it to be a continuing tradition at Piedmont Hills as both ARK and the special-ed community enjoy the event.

“We first got the idea last year when we realized how all our activities had been reaching out to all communities in our school except the special-ed community. We had huge success and heard that both the students and their teachers enjoyed the activity,” explains Nancy.

Despite the strenous work, ARK members love the event, especially when they receive thank you cards from the special-ed students.

“It made my day. I remember telling everyone about how happy I was because all the special-ed students were really sweet,” remembers Lily.