Cherry Creek Schools issued the following announcement on Nov. 6.
During a time of stress and unrest, staff at Red Hawk Ridge Elementary were determined to create a space of peace and kindness for their students.
“We knew this was a really stressful time for our students,” Principal Kait Whitaker said. “Between the election and the rise of COVID-19 cases, we wanted to think about what we could do within our walls to help our kids do right by each other.”
The school launched Kindness Week on Monday with chalk art and continued the week with activities like kindness cards, kindness chains and a read-in to set the tone for Wednesday.
“Even our youngest students were talking about the election,” Whitaker said. “Kids need a safe space to learn, so we started the day after the election with peaceful music and time to read. We actually had a really awesome day as a school because we started out with that calmness.”
Whitaker said students have embraced the activities this week, with students going above and beyond. Whitaker recently acknowledged a student for the school’s Hawk Nest award for doing a kindness activity for her class every day. She found a level of authenticity in students’ messages -- ranging from “you matter” to “thank you for helping us soar” -- that is inspiring.
“One of the most powerful things we can do as educators is to show our students positive values,” Whitaker said. “They will take what we model and go so far with it.”
Because K-8 students will not be in school on Friday due to a scheduled non-contact day because of parent-teacher conferences, Red Hawk Ridge is encouraging students to find acts of kindness they can do within their community. The school hopes the lessons of kindness and connection will spread into the community.
“No matter what happens in the world around us, our community is a positive place where we take care of each other,” Whitaker said. “That’s a lesson I’m proud to teach our children.”
Original source can be found here.
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