Now that our Hidden Heroes Education Society has officially joined forces with School District 68 and the Malaspina Education Department, the school-based Hidden Heroes Project has gained renewed energy and rapid new growth and I can't stop myself from bragging a little about the recent work done at Chemainus Elementary Community School.

For those that don't know, the Hidden Heroes Education Project is an offshoot of this column.

In short the teachers, students and parents deemed this Grade 4/5 version of the project a huge success. It was taught by student teacher, Ian Drown, under the supervision of Kelly Robertson.

Parent Karen Charyna says that her son, Ben, came home "all excited and pumped up about the project.

"It seems that a lot has come at him from different angles," she told me. "He has been doing a lot of processing and this is something that isn't going to go away really soon. He's latched onto something that is in the core of his being. It seems that he and his peers are really committed to making a difference and that's really neat for me to see."

Student teacher, Ian Drown, who introduced the project into the classroom during his practicum, was excited by his students' reaction.

"It was easy to bring into the classroom," he told me, "and the students truly embraced it. They were really enthused about becoming Hidden Heroes themselves.

"As the project unfolded," he continued, "they became much more aware of their actions, how they can affect other people and become much better community citizens as well.

"The power of the project," he concluded, "is that it can be integrated into so many different areas including classroom management and general behaviour around the school as well as making a difference in the children's lives at home.

Classroom teacher, Kelly Robertson, was enthusiastic about the project as well.

"It's been a great opportunity for the kids in this class," she told me. "They really had a good time with it and it fits well with the Virtues Project, which we also do at this school.

"Some of the writing they did about Hidden Heroes was really inspiring," she continued. "When Ian and I read them afterward, we had tears in our eyes because they really got to the heart of the matter about making a difference but not needing to make a whole lot of fanfare about it. It's about just being the best you can be.

"The project teaches kids that you don't have to be rich and famous to make a difference. If they make a difference in their own lives, that spreads to the school and to the community. Hopefully what we are doing is inspiring them to become better adults. This project elevates everyone in the process."

As I chatted with the students before leaving, here are some of the things they told me about Hidden Heroes: "Hidden Heroes sometimes make mistakes but they help others even when they are not asked; sometimes Hidden Heroes are related to you, that's the cool part; it's true they are respectful and nice and they sometimes even change people's lives, but the important thing is that they do things secretly and they don't show off; Hidden Heroes can be anyone."

If you would like to see the Grade 4/5 class in action, tune in the Daily an hour-long program that repeats each hour on Channel 4 from Wednesday at 6 pm to Thursday at 6 pm and Saturday at 6 pm until Monday at 6 pm.

By this fall we expect to have lesson plans and teacher support materials ready for Grades 1, 3 and 5/6 and possibly Grades 7 and 11/12. If you are a teacher or a parent and you would like more information, email info@hiddenheroes.ca.