HODGDON, Maine — In less than seven minutes, fifth and sixth graders at an Aroostook County elementary school came up with nine potential projects designed to create an atmosphere of kindness in their school.
As part of a three-year, $200,000 Rachel’s Challenge Grant, MSAD 70 schools joined this week with the nearly 30 million people around the world who have accepted Rachel’s Challenge to start a chain reaction of kindness.
Rachel Scott was the first victim of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado, the nation’s first mass school shooting, where 15 were killed and 24 injured by two students at the school.
Less than a year after the shooting, Rachel’s parents started Rachel’s Challenge to honor her life and create school cultures of kindness.
Mill Pond School Counselor Leslee Mahon said she applied for the grant to create a three-year plan for promoting a positive school climate to unify the students, staff and parents.
And following two days of training this week, the school will begin creating their chain links of kindness — strips of colored paper each with a noticed act of kindness linked together — and start a Friends for Rachel Club, she said.
Rachel’s parents’ initiative was rooted in stories the Colorado high school students shared about Rachel with her parents after her death. She deliberately reached out to those different from her, new to school, picked on by others, or just lonely; and what a huge difference that made in their lives, said DeeDee Cooper, A Rachel’s Challenge certified leader who was at Mill Pond School on Monday.
Since that time, the challenge’s programs have reached students around the world and work toward creating a culture less susceptible to harassment, isolation, and violence. Eight school shootings have been prevented, and on average 150 suicides are averted every year based on voluntary reporting, according to Rachel’s Challenge statistics. .
Following Monday morning’s presentations, Cooper met with the fifth and sixth graders for a 90-minute training and brainstorming session on how to create a culture of kindness in their own school.
“What needs to change to make your school a better place?” she asked.
And hands flew up with student suggestions — don’t let someone eat lunch alone, don’t gossip, don’t be mean to teachers — and after filling two large pages with suggestions, Cooper gave the students examples of what students around the country have done to help each other and their communities.
After a student at one school lost everything in a home fire, they created Rachel’s Closet and Food Pantry for students to shop for free and receive food at the school. Another started an Instagram page for students to post each others’ pictures with a compliment.
Cooper asked the students if they knew how many custodians worked at the school. “Three, thirteen, eight.” The students guessed.
There are actually five. And she asked if anyone could name all five.
These people come to work every day to keep your bathrooms clean and the cafeteria and rooms clean for you, she said.
“Can you name one custodian?” she asked.
Several called out Mark Jackins.
“What if Mark came into school one morning and there were 100 notes thanking him for keeping your school clean?”
Jackins then entered the gymnasium during the afternoon session to the cheers of all the students.
“It’s changing their way of thinking,” she said.
With about 20 minutes remaining in the training, Cooper broke the students into 10 groups and they had seven minutes to come up with possible programs at the school. And the groups came up with ideas such as a welcoming committee, a group that invited kids who were alone in the cafeteria to have lunch with them, a compliment basket that rotated from student to student and a compliment bulletin board.
As the session ended, Cooper challenged the students to give 50 high-fives in 30 seconds. Some got as many as 35.
The Hodgdon Middle High School will have training on Tuesday and there will be a session for parents and the public at the high school at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
