Neighbors | Submitted.Eric Quimby, a pop corn crew member, handed out free bags of popcorn to Poland high school students.
Neighbors | Submitted.Kindness club member Christin Murcko handed out bags of popcorn to students at Poland Seminary High School Sept. 27 as part of the Start with Hello week events.
Neighbors | Submitted.Christin Murcko, a member of the kindness club at Poland high school, held a sign displaying the Start With Hello week plan to give one free bag of popcorn to students at the school.
Neighbors | Submitted.For Start With Hello Week Kindness club advisor Lindsay Ignazio along with club members Angel O’Grady and Christin Murcko handed out bags of popcorn with positive quotes on them to students of Poland high school.
By JESSICA HARKER
Poland schools took the Sandy Hook Challenge with a Start with Hello week celebration.
“This started coming from the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, so the Sandy Hook promise, it really was created by the parents who lost their children. Its not anything horrible about guns, its about preserving the memory of these children by hopefully reducing or stopping social isolation,” said Mike Masucci, principal of Poland Union Elementary School.
All schools in the Poland district participated in the event, focused on creating an inclusive environment in the district.
“We are doing it district-wide, and all the counselors work together on it. It’s about being kind, reaching out and getting to know each other,” said Poland Union counselor Marina Carmello.
According to Masucci, Poland Union Elementary School celebrated Start with Hello week with special dress days.
“At this level we don’t talk about bullying because we don’t have these problems at this level,” Masucci said. “What we talk about here is more focused on role models, mentoring, being a friend and showing kindness.”
Students had a neon day, a color day where each class wore specific colored shirts, a favorite team day and a blue and white day.
“We were mostly just having different clothing days, just to help to remind them what the purpose of the program is,” Carmello said.
Poland Seminary High School’s kindness club gave away free bags of popcorn with positive notes written on them to celebrate the week.
Lindsay Ignazio, adviser of the kindness club, said that the group has a variety of events planned for the year, but chose to give pop corn away for Start with Hello week.
“Good for kids because they get to know each other,” Carmello said. “Earlier this year, it started with Sandy Hook. They thought it would be a positive way to honor and to get kids connected in the community.”
According to Principal David J. Purins of Poland Middle School, the school had two assemblies to honor the week.
One assembly took place for sixth- through eighth-graders, and one for third- through fifth-graders, all with the same goal of ending social isolation and encouraging friendships.
Poland Union Elementary and Poland Seminary High School also kicked off Start with Hello week with their annual Big Dog Little Dog mentorship program.
“It’s just about taking something that happened a while ago and turning into something positive,” Carmello said.