Students throw the boomerang of kindness
Justine Wettschreck Worthington Daily Globe
Published Friday, November 17, 2006
ADRIAN — The non-profit organization Youth Frontiers, Inc. believes if
a person wants to be treated with kindness, they have to throw the
kindness boomerang, and kindness can come back to them.
On
Thursday, more than 100 fifth-grade students gathered at Adrian
Elementary School to spend the day with two representatives from Youth
Frontiers, learning about the kindness boomerang. Through music, games
and small and large group discussions, Joe Beckman and Kecia Winter,
with help from some high school mentors, taught the students the
rightness of being kind.
“Our goal today is to give every kid in
this school a day where they are treated with nothing but kindness,”
Beckman said. “To prove to them that, A, it can happen, and B, they can
have fun at the same time they are being kind.”
Beckman said they begin the day with games and music, keeping the students on their toes.
“They don’t know what’s coming next,” he said with a grin.
Some
of the group discussions involved the three types of bullying — verbal,
physical and silent — and how to stand up and be a hero for someone.
The
retreat, sponsored by the Nobles County Integration Collaborative
(NCIC), is an annual event that culminates in each student writing down
the answers to three questions: how they would be kinder to teachers
and classmates, who they would like to thank and for what, and who they
would like to apologize to. They were then given the opportunity to
stand up and read their answers aloud if they wished.
“It’s
amazing what these kids will stand up and say,” said NCIC Coordinator
Sharon Johnson. “They spend the day talking about how to address
negative behavior in their school — bullying, rumors, gossip — and are
encouraged to take the next step toward throwing out the boomerang of
kindness.”
The students’ answers to the questions were as varied
as the students themselves, who came from Ellsworth, Round
Lake-Brewster and Fulda elementary schools and the Worthington Area
Learning Academy (WALA).
To be kinder to teachers and classmates,
students said they would improve on not disrupting teachers, pay
attention, not talk back and try to thank teachers for smiling and
giving compliments.
The students thanked teachers, friends and
family for acts of kindness and apologized to classmates, teachers and
family members for picking on them, disrupting class or getting them
into trouble.
Before they began to read their responses, Winter
asked that they give the person who was sharing answers their full
respect, which they did. The gym full of students was as still and
quiet as a room with 120 fifth-graders could possibly be.
After all who wanted to share their answers had done so, Beckman stood in a circle of students to wrap up the day.
“There
are so many positive things going on in your school,” he told the
students. “It can be peaceful, great, happy, perfect, strong…but it is
going to take work. Who has to make it happen?”
“We do!” the students shouted.
Beckman reminded the students they needed to pass down the boomerang of kindness to the younger students in the school also.
“If you guys are throwing out the boomerang of kindness, the other classes will, too,” he said.
WALA
students Jose Alverez, Jorge Euceda and Jose Guzman said the most
important thing they learned from the experience was to be respectful
to other people.
“We had fun and talked to other people,” Euceda
said. “And I want to thank Mr. Phaly for being our teacher and for
being so nice.”
Felicia Nelson of Adrian Elementary said she learned about being kind.
“I’ve been mean in the past,” she admitted, saying she would stop and think next time, so it wouldn’t happen again.
School
social worker Angie Meyer said she can see a definite difference in the
attitude of the students after the retreat each year, but that the key
was to follow up with activities that emphasize the messages the
students learned. Youth Frontiers makes that easy by putting follow-up
information at the fingertips of the teachers and staff in the form of
weekly e-mails, posters and more.
