Students at Clarion-Limestone Elementary School are learning to “Start With Hello.”
Through various activities that have been taking place throughout the week, “Start With Hello” raises awareness about social isolation and educates students and the community on how to prevent it.
The program stems from the Sandy Hook Promise program, which started after the mass shooting at that school in 2012.
“At the elementary level, we are focusing on doing kind acts for each other. We are finding little things that show that we appreciate each other.
Hockenberry said for each day of the week, there was something planned. The recommendations were taken from the Sandy Hook Promise organization.
Monday started with videos, which stressed to begin the day by saying “hello.” The videos, shown during lunches, included how to say “hello” in different languages and how to make a new friend.
“I went to every lunch and asked the kids to pass around a Post-it note with a smiley face on it,” Hockenberry said. “I actually heard from some teachers who found a Post-it note and piece of candy on their desks.”
On Tuesday, teachers utilized classroom meeting time to focus on the anti-bullying rule: “We will help.” Teachers asked students to color and cut out handprints with their names on them. The message was to reach out and help. The individual handprints were used in a larger art project displayed within the school.
“We now have a forest of helping hands,” Hockenberry said.
Wednesday’s lesson was to be kind. Teachers were on the lookout for students who had shown acts of kindness. The students had their pictures taken, and photos were placed in a poster to be located in the cafeteria hallway.
On Thursday, students were asked to embrace diversity.
They were issued color-coded wristbands and, instead of eating lunch with their friends or classmates, they dined with other students with the same color wristband.
The purpose of the activity was to promote students interacting with peers whom they might not have met.
The students and staff were to dress in various colors by grade level. A drone photo will be taken of the C-L community.
This is the first year for the program at the elementary school.
“Throughout the year we will continue to focus on acts of kindness,” Hockenberry said.
The staff, she said, is looking at an event in February for the Great Acts of Kindness Challenge.
Similar events were being held at Clarion-Limestone High School.