IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Summer 2018 | Page 72

Brentwood
Borough
School
District
This past school year, Elroy Elementary school theme was Kindness. The teachers encouraged students
to perform random acts of kindness and add a “Kindness Leaf” to our tree. Elaine Cox, M.D., medical
director of infection prevention at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis posits, “Interestingly,
children are hard-wired to be kind when they are born. As early as toddlerhood, they will show empathy.”
In elementary school, kids are able to show compassion to others and able to understand their own
emotions. But often in middle school, that compassion and kindness may be harder to find.
The best way to encourage kindness and empathy is to start at home. Children need to think, speak
and act with open minds. We can teach children the concept of always looking out for others and not
expecting anything in return. Parents can teach their children to be kind by showing them how it is done.
Pay attention to your own behavior while you are driving, in the grocery store, or in a crowd. What is the
verbal language you are using? What is your body language saying? Finally, one additional thing we can
do to promote kindness is to apologize when we are not kind. We lose our temper, screw up from time to
time, or say things that are hurtful. By apologizing quickly and meaning it, is one way to teach our children
to be kinder.
5 Ways to Raise Kids to be Kind:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Make caring for others a priority – being respectful even if you are hurt or angry.
Be a strong moral, role model, and mentor.
Help children manage destructive feelings.
Provide opportunities for kids to practice caring.
Expand the circle of concern beyond family and friends.
“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see,” Mark Twain.
Elroy Kindness Fundraising Coming to an End
Mrs. Smith, First Grade Teacher
The school year is winding down and so is our quest of spreading kindness to Shadydale Elementary School in Texas. Elroy started this
journey with our school theme “Spreading Kindness like Confetti”. Students were challenged to show kindness in school and kindness
leaves were filled out and put on a tree in the hallway to share all the ways kindness was shown.
Along with our kindness tree, many fundraisers were held in order for us to raise money for Shadydale Elementary. Fundraising began in
September with students wearing Shadydale colors to show we supported them in their recovering efforts from Hurricane Harvey. More
events were held every month and some of the most memorable were; a Turkey Trot in November, Twin Day in February and an obstacle
course in April. For every event held, students were asked to bring in a one-dollar donation, however many students went above and
beyond and brought in five, ten and even twenty dollars. All
in all, we raised a total of $1,432.00.
The funds were used for an Attendance Incentive Program
at Shadydale. Many students lost their homes and all their
belongings in Hurricane Harvey, which in turn affected
school attendance. Ms. Tina Daily, principal of Shadydale,
said “Thank you so much for your consideration and thinking
of us. We tell our scholars all the time that community
extends far beyond their reach. We are blessed to be
connected to your school.”
It has been a great year of showing kindness at Elroy
Elementary School. Our hope is that students will continue
their quest of showing kindness always and will help teach
others to “Spread Kindness like Confetti”. Thanks to all of our
Elroy families for supporting our year of kindness events.
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