During the month of October, Chagrin Falls Middle School and Gurney Elementary School participated in “Start With Hello Week.”..
“Start with Hello” Campaign
During the month of October, Chagrin Falls Middle School and Gurney Elementary School participated in “Start With Hello Week.” It is a week organized by Sandy Hook Promise that focuses on reaching out to others, especially those who may be isolated. It encourages students to look for signs of loneliness and social isolation and then works with them to come up with ways they can reach out, the simplest way being just to say hello. It’s all about empowering students to know that they can make a difference in someone else’s life.
Chagrin Falls Middle School has been celebrating “Start With Hello Week” for the past five years. This year, the school was limited with some of its usual activities due to Covid-19.
“We still wanted to find ways to encourage the message,” said Kyle Patterson, middle school counselor. “We organized a video presentation for students and then they completed several tasks.”
Students also created messages that are now posted around the school committing to ways they will reach out to others. They sent positive emails to other students and staff and also made cards for residents at Hamlet so the message can extend to the community. Students and staff were also able to nominate someone who has made a difference to them by reaching out, and the school raffled off a few winners for some small prizes.
“I really love this program and its message because it’s so simple yet so important,” said Patterson. “It reminds us all that we can make a difference to others through our everyday actions, sometimes just by smiling and saying hello.”
At Gurney Elementary School, it is the first year the students and staff have embraced the program.
“We know how vital relationships are to students’ overall health and well-being and what a positive impact these connections have on their success,” said Sarah Read, assistant principal, who is coordinating the program.
Activities in each grade level included literacy lessons, social studies activities, discussions in Morning Meetings, videos, books and art projects.
