Friday, August 17, 2018
“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.” -R.J. Palacio, Wonder
This quotation sums up Purdy Elementary’s goal for our school and community: we need to choose to be kind. In December, Purdy Elementary kicked off a school-wide Kindness Initiative to show students that kindness matters. The initiative began with Palacio’s book, Wonder, and has grown into an all-school movement to support kindness and positive community interactions.
In order to foster such an atmosphere, our staff elected to create and wear t-shirts every Wednesday, displaying the phrase “We Choose Kindness.” However, we knew that there was much more work to be done as role models and facilitators for creating a more understanding, accepting, and kind community.
We introduced the idea of “joining our team” during our first Kindness Assembly, where we asked students to participate through random acts of kindness. When students witnessed a kind act, they wrote it on a slip of paper and posted it to the designated wall in our building. Each week, students were asked to join the Kindness Team by making a happy trip to the office to take the kindness oath, and receive an “I Chose Kindness” t-shirt. Even our service dog, Wasabi, received a shirt when his owner did.
Over the rest of the school year, every student earned their t-shirt and even began nominating other school-related people such as our DARE officer, crossing guards, and bus drivers. The response from students was overwhelming.
Once we established how to be kind within our school, we extended it to our communities in Fort Atkinson. At the beginning of February, students participated in a food drive, which brought in more than 660 items for the food pantry. Just weeks later, we were stunned by the tragedy that unfolded in Florida and found it as another opportunity to show kindness to others. As an elementary school, we conveyed the message to students that we were creating letters, notes, and pictures to send to a school that needed cheering up. Within the week, we sent a bundle of items with hopes of providing some encouragement for students, even if it was for just a moment.
In March we offered a free movie night for the community. Everyone was invited to Purdy Elementary to watch a movie about kindness. Parents and children were encouraged to wear pajamas and bring blankets and pillows for a fun night.
During spring break, we asked students to take their t-shirts with them however near or far their adventures took them, to take a picture. Pictures were posted on Facebook showing all of the different places our kids were able to spread kindness along with a map that is displayed in the school.
Finally, in May, we held a Kindness Karnival. We asked our students to help gather materials for games and run them at the karnival. They contributed their time and effort with more than 14 games and other activities. Students talked about it for days!
Since “We Choose Kindness” began, Purdy Elementary has seen a decrease in office referrals. We have witnessed an increased awareness of children who are different. There are more positive attitudes and a deeper understanding of our students’ unique needs. Generally, students are going out of their way to help each other, from helping with pick up to assisting with understanding school work.
We have received positive and supportive feedback from parents and students, so our Kindness Committee decided to continue with activities that support kindness and positive community interaction. Our hope is that if we start students on the right foot early on, the chance of them bullying others will decrease, creating an understanding of the importance of community inside and outside of the school setting.
Much of this work was made possible through our first sponsors, Hoye’s Floors, Jones Dairy Farms, Shopko, the Scheuerell Family, Verlo (not pictured) and Krueger Jewelers.
Purdy Elementary will continue this fall to find other ways to support the community and show students the importance of helping others, no matter who they are. We want all students to be a part of this great team and continue to grow with our goal of kindness.
Subscriber Submission: Written by Julie Kusel