Earlier this year Rodney Smith Jr. made headlines when he drove eight hours from his home in Huntsville. Alabama, to cut the lawn for an elderly soldier in North Carolina who couldn't find anyone to help him with his yard work.

That wasn't the first time the twenty-nine-year-old Bermuda native had gained such attention. To do his good deeds, Rodney often finds leads for those in need through social media.

Back to one August afternoon in 2015, Rodney Smith Jr. was driving home. That's when Rodney saw an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn. He would take a couple of shaky steps, using the handle to stabilize himself, pause, then slowly push the mower again. Rodney decided to help. Mr. Brown thanked him greatly, and Rodney went home feeling satisfied.

Sitting at his computer to do his homework, Rodney couldn't get Mr. Brown out of his mind. There must be many Mr. Browns out there. He went online and posted that he would mow lawns for free for senior citizens. Messages flooded in.

One day a cancer-battling woman said she wasn't having a good day. Rodney decided to do more than mowing lawns. After he finished mowing, he knocked on her door. "You're going to win this fight, Madam", he said. Then he asked folks to pray for her on social media.

Word of Rodney's mission spread. A grandmother in Ohio said he'd encouraged her 12-year-old grandson to mow lawns. He got a letter from a seven-year-old boy in Kansas. "Mr. Rodney, I would like to be a part of your program, and I'll make you proud," he wrote.

That gave Rodney an idea. In 2017, he decided to establish a programme Raising Men Lawn Care Service to make a national movement for young people. The kids learn the joy of giving back.

Yard work seems like a small, simple thing, but taking care of the lawn means a lot to the people they do it for. "When we mow their yards for free, they can use the money for healthcare and food etc. It means more than you would think," Rodney said.

Rebecka Peterson, a high school math teacher, is the nation's 2023 Teacher of the Year. Her first year of teaching wasn't without its 1 ，but she remembered why she was there and wanted to bear those2 thoughts in mind. So she 3 the One Good Thing blog.

It was 4 and fun, really. Every evening, she would write on her blog, 5 "one good thing she experienced that day. She gave her blog the tagline; "Every day may not be good, but there is on good thing in every day."

She encouraged her 6 to do the same in their handwritten journals. Just a few minutes a day to7 something good that happened—that would be enough, she 8 . She believes that it will make them happier and more 9 to learn.

During her eleven years in teaching, Peterson has10 that some students find math difficult. But her efforts to make it 11 made her the 2023 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. From there, she made the 12 to win the nation's 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Peterson has travelled around the country, talking to teaches about binging 13 back to Classrooms. Her goals include emphasizing the positive experiences students have not only with math but with learning 14 . She hopes her stories will attract new teachers to the profession and give 15 to current ones.

 "BANG!" I pulled the door heavily behind me. "Never set foot in this house again!" stormed father. I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.

A young man who held a child in his arms walked past me. I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and carefree. But now...I don't know whether it is because I have grown up or because Dad is getting old. We differ in our ways of thinking. We are just like two people coming from two different worlds. It feels like there is an iron(铁制的) door between us that can never be opened.

I wandered in the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company. My heart was frozen on this hot summer night. When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived, I saw that the light was still on.

I thought to myself, "Is Father waiting for his boy, or still angry with him?"

All the lights were off except Father's.

Dad was always like this. Maybe he didn't know how to express himself. After an argument he had the habit of tucking me underneath the covers(掖被子) while I was sleeping. This was how he always was. He had been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do had become his second nature.

The light was still on.

"Am I wrong?" I whispered, maybe... With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been. At last, I decided to open the door. As soon as I opened the door, tears ran down my cheeks. I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all. Love——it's second to none.

Faye and Matthew Gooding and their five young sons appear to have perfect lives. Mrs. Gooding 1 beautiful photos of life in their four-bedroom house on Instagram(一种社交软件), and more than 32, 000 people 2 them. For the couple themselves, 3 , this "materially(物质地) perfect world" was lacking something—so now they are giving up all their 4 to travel around the world with their kids.

This was the last Christmas that the couple spent in their house, which has already been sold. Most of their belongings are 5 too. Shortly their Ford car will be sold and the family will take just one backpack each.

Mrs. Gooding said: "Some friends and family think Matt and I are 6 to be giving up so much. It's been difficult giving up so many possessions. Yet 7 enjoying spending time with the boys, I found myself cleaning the house all day before. The older ones were at school and I thought, 'I 8 see them'. I admitted how I felt to Matt. He agreed it felt as if our lives moved around 9 things—both of us working to 10 the mortgage(贷款) and keep ourselves in our materially perfect world."

    They will leave this month and plan to start their 11 in Sweden where they have friends.

Mr. Gooding added: "People have said 'aren't you worried about stability and safety?'— 12 as we have five small children. It is a (an) 13 because we are giving up so much. But we can't wait to spend more time with our sons without the 14 of everyday routines. We don't know what will happen, but we do know if we didn't do this we would always 15 it."