Poland’s Caring Club works to spread kindness in December

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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Students Delaney Demetrios and Halle Argiro were one of many groups of Poland students traveling to different classrooms to deliver bucket filler buckets to teachers on Dec. 3.

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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Delaney Demetrios and Halle Argiro read a list of supplies kept in a bucket filler bucket on Dec. 3 to students and teachers at Poland McKinley School.

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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Students Delaney Demetrios and Halle Argiro read instructions to a Poland classroom about how to recieve bucket filler coupons.

By JESSICA HARKER

jharker@vindy.com

Poland students created and distributed bucket filler buckets to classrooms at Poland Middle School on Dec. 3.

Students were members of the school’s Caring Club, which is run by school counselors Wendy Butch and Mary Jo Rowan and has more than 100 members.

“Having the club has definitely changed the atmosphere of the school,” Butch said.

She explained that each month the club works on a new project aimed at being a bucket filler.

Rowan said bucket fillers are people who do does good work and is kind to others.

“It’s a person who makes someone feel good about themselves,” Rowan said.

A bucket filler can also be someone who is prepared for class, does their work and makes the teacher proud said Butch.

“They know we need to be bucket fillers starting at the very top with teachers, and that means being good students,” Butch said.

For the month of December students created bucket filler buckets that contained a variety of items for teachers to use.

The buckets contained paper clips, to help keep it together, M&M’s to make friends, Dove chocolate for love for teaching and more.

Butch said most importantly they contained bucket filler coupons for teachers to pass out to students throughout the month.

If a teacher sees a student being a bucket filler, the student will receive a coupon.

The student then goes to the office and drops it off, explaining to the person working the window what they did to receive the coupon.

“You should see the children who come down and drop off the coupons, they are so excited to share about the good they did to get it,” Butch said.

At the end of the month, Rowan said 10 bucket fillers from each grade will be chosen for a free breakfast as a reward.

Along with the buckets students will be working in other committees for the month of December on secret missions to help care for others at the school.

Butch said students will also be working to look for good deeds they can talk about on the morning announcements, as well as create positive notes to post around the school.

“You see them taking so much pride in what they do,” Butch said. “It really matters to them that they are being kind to others.”

The Caring Club meets once a month to organize for the new projects.

“Students really enjoy working to make other people feel good,” Rowan said.