Story by Audrey Bricker
The week of September eighteenth, CFMS participated in Start With Hello Week. Start With Hello is a program which promotes kindness and inclusivity. Throughout the week students are encouraged to sit with someone new, get to know others, and most importantly be kind. The goal is to form new friendships and bring the school together.
The program was started by a nonprofit organization called the Sandy Hook Promise. The organization began after a mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. After the shooting many of the families, having lost their loved ones, started Start With Hello Week to prevent gun violence as well as social isolation, bullying, and self harm. It also aims to teach students empathy and inclusion and to have a more connected school. Since the start of this award winning program, schools have reported less bullying and more connections. In the present, Start With Hello has over eight million participants consisting of students and teachers.
At CFMS one of the main organizers of Start With Hello Week is Kyle Patterson, known to the students as Mr. Patterson, the guidance counselor for seventh through eighth grade.
“This program is a really simple and meaningful message about how we can connect with each other,” said Patterson. “I like seeing students looking for new and meaningful ways to reach out to one another and get to know others they may have not known previously.”
Seventh-grade student Malcolm Livingston also believes that Start With Hello is beneficial: “It makes others feel like they’re important and shows that people care about each other,” he said.
Throughout the week students participated in various activities for Start With Hello. On Monday, students drew kind and encouraging messages on the sidewalk outside of the school. They also filmed videos of their dreams for the younger students in the elementary school. On Wednesday, everyone wore green to celebrate Start With Hello Week and the teachers ate lunch with the students. On Thursday, students were welcomed to school by the Guidance Advisory Council, led by Patterson, passing out bagels and stickers. The school came together on Friday to walk the track. Seventh and eighth graders were split up with two high schoolers per group. All groups walked the track twice while discussing icebreaker questions. The aim was to get to know more about others and feel closer to classmates. Students also had a program-related activity every day in Advisory.
Start With Hello Week has impacted many at CFMS, if not all. Each day students showed kindness, empathy, inclusivity and more. Students, teachers, educators, and others all came together the week of September eighteenth. Though the program only lasts a week, its message will stay forever. Start With Hello is a good reminder that CFMS will always be connected.
Photo Gallery of Sidewalk Chalk Monday 9/18 by Sedona Bundy Below
Photo Gallery of Sidewalk Chalk Monday 9/18 by Layla Camposo Below
Photo Gallery of Eat with Your Teacher Day Wednesday 9/20 by Stuart Cain
Photo Gallery below by Stuart Cain (Green Day)
Photo Gallery of Bagel Event by Lauren McKenna Below
Photo Gallery of Walk the Track Friday 9/22 by Stuart Cain
Photo Gallery of Walk the Track Friday 9/22 by Milo Quinton
Video filmed and edited by Connor Laval
