At St. Michael’s, we are always seeking meaningful ways to help students grow not only as learners, but as compassionate members of our community. Our recent “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” project offered students an opportunity to reflect, create, and understand one another in a deeper way.

Students began by creating blind-contour drawings of shoes with Mrs. Jenny—an exercise that encourages careful observation and a willingness to let go of perfection. These drawings, full of character and expressive line work, became the foundation of the project.

In collaboration with our school counselor, Ms. Courtney, students then wrote about a time when school felt challenging. Some described moments of feeling new or unsure, while others shared experiences of being left out or facing a difficult situation. These short reflections were honest, thoughtful, and brave.

The writings were then mixed and redistributed so students read a classmate’s experience rather than their own. This simple act allowed them to “walk in someone else’s shoes,” creating a quiet, powerful moment of empathy as they recognized the emotions and challenges their peers have faced.

To bring everything together visually, large shoe outlines were drawn and students used torn pieces of their blind-contour drawings and written reflections to create layered collages. The textures and fragments symbolize how our individual stories—messy, complex, and meaningful—combine to form a caring and connected community.

The completed collaged shoes were displayed in our hallway as a reminder that each step a person takes carries a story, and that understanding those stories is at the heart of empathy and belonging at St. Michael’s