Hey there students and teachers! Welcome back to class for another great year! Elena’s Campaign for Kindness has had an active summer, and we’re very excited to see it continue into this school year. Each new school year brings new experiences: new teachers, new students, and new friendships!
The start of school is the perfect time to think about ways to spread kindness in your classroom, school, community, and beyond. What are some ways that you plan to be kind this year? Whether it’s starting the day with a smile, sitting with someone new at lunch, or filling your classroom with kindness-themed quotes, there’s no act of kindness that’s too big or too small to make a difference!
Need some more ideas? Let’s look at what some of Elena’s constituents – your fellow students and teachers from across the state – are doing to celebrate kindness:
Do you have other suggestions on how to spread kindness? Write to Elena at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org to share your ideas! Or, if you end up trying one of the ideas from this post, write to us at Brian.Cofrancesco@kidgovernor.org and let us know how it turned out for your class!
- Enfield’s middle school and high school students hosted a pancake breakfast to raise money and non-perishable food items for local charities, and they even held a Kindness Carnival to reward the town’s younger students for their acts of kindness!
- High school students in Enfield also paired up with elementary schools to mentor 2nd graders, giving them great advice on how to do well in school and how to spread kindness.
- A retired teacher from West Hartford suggests starting each day with a “Circle of Love” – students and teachers all sit together and take turns wishing kindness and good luck to friends, family, or classmates.
- Chaplin Elementary School starts every day with the following “kindness pledge,” and they encourage other classrooms to use it, too!:
- I pledge to myself on this day,
To try and be kind in every way.
To every person big and small,
I will help them if they fall.
When I love myself and others too,
That is the best that I can do. - Mrs. Finch's classroom at Center School in East Hampton celebrated Kindness Day on the 13th of each month by making a kindness banner for the hallway and collecting items for a local food bank!
- Pleasant Valley Elementary School in South Windsor and Reynolds School in Newington are both getting Buddy Benches for their playgrounds, and East Hartford Rotary has purchased eleven Buddy Benches for the town’s elementary schools!
Do you have other suggestions on how to spread kindness? Write to Elena at CKGElena@kidgovernor.org to share your ideas! Or, if you end up trying one of the ideas from this post, write to us at Brian.Cofrancesco@kidgovernor.org and let us know how it turned out for your class!
Welcome back to school!
