“Start With Hello” Week Angie Reynolds, school counselor
This week, I invited school counselor, Angie Reynolds, to update readers on efforts and activities associated with “Start With Hello” Week at Crissey Elementary School.
During the week of September 13 to 17, Crissey Elementary participated in “Start with Hello,” an initiative created by the Sandy Hook Promise organization. The goal was to promote inclusion and kindness to help ensure that no student feels alone or isolated.
A daily activity was planned to help the students reach out to people they may not normally interact with. A spirit theme dress day was partnered with each goal to add some fun.
On Monday, students were asked to say hello to others as they saw them in the hallways, classroom, cafeteria, etc. A simple “hello” has the ability to change the way someone’s day is going. Since it was picture day, we asked students to dress their best and say hello to the photographer.
On Tuesday, the goal was to give out five compliments to others in our building. Encouraging others can really brighten someone’s day, so students were invited to wear neon/bright clothing.
Wednesday’s activity was to look for people who need a friend. We hoped this would be a great day for everyone in the building and that everyone had a friend to play with at recess. It’s important that everyone feels like they are a part of our team, so our students were encouraged to wear a jersey or shirt representing their favorite sports team.
Thursday, we challenged our students to learn more about someone they normally wouldn’t talk to during their day; did they share anything in common with this person? Students were asked to wear their favorite color on Thursday, allowing others to know a little bit about them without even having to ask. We finished the week by asking our students to wear Crissey spirit wear (or something red) if they were ready to be a student who is always willing to be kind to others and make sure everyone feels included.
As we work on teaching students empathy and kindness, we want to make sure that everyone feels included and welcomed. The Sandy Hook Promise organization gives three easy steps: 1. See someone alone? 2. Reach out and help. 3. Start with “Hello!”
