The school year has gotten off to an inclusive start at Chagrin Falls Schools where students participated in “Start with Hello” Week, a program through Sandy Hook Promise that “teaches students to be more socially inclusive and connected to each other.”
Five sixth-grade students from Chagrin Falls Intermediate School gave a presentation on the program at the September 20 Chagrin Falls Board of Education meeting.
Board member Kathryn Garvey introduced the student group, noting that the program was “near and dear to her heart.” As part of a military family, she spent time in eight or nine school districts before graduation and was often the new student. “This program encourages students to be thinking about the new students, students that are quieter, or those that aren’t known to you that you want to get to know a little better,” said Garvey.
Curtis Howell, principal of Chagrin Falls Intermediate School, introduced two counselors, Elizabeth Wolfgang and Annie Schluep, who then introduced five sixth-grade students who explained to the board and audience the importance of “Start with Hello” week. Those students were Maryanne Golden, Jacob Kumins, Olivia Kumins, Jack Hanley and Amelia Edgerly.
“If we can teach students to be better to each other, when they leave here they have a chance to change the world,” said Howell.
Olivia Kumins shared the steps to “Start with Hello” Week–if you see someone alone, you reach out to them, and you start with saying “hello.” “Just remember, the littlest things like saying hello can brighten someone’s day and that’s what ‘Start with Hello’ Week is all about,” said Olivia.
Maryanne Golden said students and staff wore green from head to toe on Monday to represent the week’s signature color. The school created grade-level kindness chains by each making their own paper link. Grade levels wrote a kind act that they have done for someone or someone has done for them on the paper link. “This week is a reminder to step out of my comfort zone and meet new people and allow people to feel included,” said Maryanne.
Jacob Kumins said Tuesday was crazy socks day. The students also had conversation starters in the cafeteria including, “If you could invent a school subject, what would it be,” “What are your favorite activities to do during recess,” and “What qualities make up a good friend?”
Jack Hanley noted Wednesday’s theme of “Kindness Ties Us Together,” in which students and staff wore tie dye clothing to help tie them together and bond.
“I think it is important to ‘Start with Hello’ because you can create new friendships and make people feel more noticed and appreciated,” said Jack. “By changing our mindset, we can build a more inclusive school community.”
Amelia Edgerly explained how Thursday’s theme was “Dreaming of a Kind World” and all students wore their pajamas and wrote letters of gratitude to someone important to them. “I think it is important to ‘Start with Hello’ because it helps to make new friends and include everyone,” said Amelia. “This week helps us learn more about our peers and we get to do fun activities that bring CFIS together.”
Friday’s theme, according to Olivia Kumins, was “Share the Spirit of Kindness” – a school spirit day during which all students and staff wore orange and black.
Jacob Kumins said that there were several guidance lessons during the week including student interviews and Schluep played “Start with Hello” bingo with the students. There also were student to student interviews. “I believe friends are important in our lives because they can help us get through tough times,” said Jacob. “Anybody can make a friend by starting with one simple word…hello.”
Lessons even flowed into Spanish class with Professor Luz Delgado, who taught different introductions and greetings in Spanish. In music, students started the class with prompts to get to know a classmate. In art, students made their own self-portraits in Mrs. Boss’ class. Ms. Packard had students make custom name tags with designs that represented themselves in the Innovation Lab.
Chagrin Falls Middle School also celebrated “Start with Hello” Week with many activities. On Monday, students completed an activity where they could say hello and share a dream they had for Gurney Elementary students. They wrote these down and decorated them on a piece of paper. Then, any students who were interested were able to go to the Innovation Center to record their message. The messages were compiled into videos and shared with the students at Gurney. On Tuesday and Wednesday, students wrote chalk messages on the sidewalks to say hi and share their dreams they have for the Gurney students this year. Any interested students were able to record their video shout out to the Gurney students.
On Wednesday, students wore green and the staff ate lunch with the students so everyone could be together as a school.
On Thursday, Guidance Advisory Councils greeted every student with a sticker, a bagel, and a “hello” as they entered the building in the morning.
The week ended with the high school Wellness Council leading a walk and talk with the middle schoolers. Students were randomly divided into 30 groups, and each group had high school leaders asking questions of the groups so they could get to know each other.
CFIS sixth grader Maryanne said, “Hello week is not just something we should do for just a week, it is something we should do everyday of every week, and we should always try to make people welcome.”
Gurney Elementary School teachers also introduced several activities to their students. For example, second-grade teacher Ellen Jones’ class started their own kindness board and encouraged her students to write sentences on the board highlighting classmates who showed a “spot of kindness.” “These amazingly kind, empathetic kids fill me with awe,” said Jones.
