Staying aligned with kindness, counselors Ms. Brittani Simon and Ms. Ramesha Haskins start the week back from fall break with Kindness Week. The annual ‘No Place For Hate’ day was now extended into a full week, providing students with more opportunities to learn kindness and to unify the student body.
“When you only give it a day, it minimizes the creativity and the ability of kids to connect,” Haskins said. “We wanted to do something where we gave multiple opportunities to engage in the overall goal and overall vision of what we were trying to accomplish.”
Being a counselor means more than just verifying transcripts and schedules to Haskins.
“As a counselor, our goal is more than transcripts and schedules,” Haskins said. “One of the things we hone in more, and for me specifically, is making sure that we are building communities for kids. We want to make sure our kids are appreciated and know that they are seen, loved, and heard.”
Indubitably, piecing it all together required meetings and emailing. Student Council D.A.S.H. head and junior Audrey Brown, and vice president and senior Jessica Nguyen, met with Simon before the break to plan each day and activity out.
“The more of us that participate in being kind, the stronger our connection as a school will be,” Brown said.
And just as hoped, their goals were met with loving feedback from students. With multiple days ranging from writing positive notes to wearing orange for unity, each student had their favorite day of the week.
“I really liked the “Put the I in kind” because I think it was a really cute photo opp and helped spread the message through pictures,” senior Amber Allen said.
The poster hung in the cafeteria gave students a chance to stand in space of the “I’ in “kind” to show that kindness starts with the individual. Additionally, it highlights the initiative responsibility it takes to be kind.
“People will see that it feels good to be nice to other people and that it doesn’t have to be one week, you can just be nice to people year round and make the school a better place,” senior Sydney Atwood said.
