- January 11, 2025
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This week, fifth-grade students commemorated Start with Hello Week by waving signs, opening car doors and orchestrating a symphony of car honks to welcome their peers at the car and bus drop offs.
It was a way to start the new year in a light and fun way, said school principal Mary Speidel.
The Start with Hello Program was developed by the Sandy Hook Promise, an organization formed after a gunman killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.
The organization’s mission is to prevent gun-related deaths from crime, suicide and accidental gunshots.
Its offshoot program, Start With Hello, encourages students to interact with their peers by inviting them to eat lunch, play games together at recess or by simply saying "hello."
This prevents some children from feeling isolated, which may lead them to pull away from society, struggle with learning and socialization or choose to hurt themselves or others, according to the Sandy Hook Promise website.
“Some children may go all day without anyone saying anything to them, but this keeps that from happening,” Marie Bracciale, school counselor. "Here, no one eats alone or plays alone."
Bracciale has led the program at various schools for about seven years, including three years at Sugar Mill Elementary School in Port Orange.
She said the school also has other projects, such as therapeutic gardens and the Buddy Bench, which helps children find play partners during recess, that continue to foster inclusiveness at the school.
Parents also are given similar material so they can teach good social skills at home, the school emphasizes peer mediation to resolve issues between students, and students with disabilities are not placed in separate classrooms so that they feel included.
As a result, fewer anonymous bully reports have been submitted, Bracciale said.
Students in the K-Kids Club, a Kiwanis youth leadership group, typically take charge.
In fourth grade, they make welcome posters with the word “hello” in different languages.
All languages spoken by students at the school are represented on the posters, which are displayed throughout the school.
By fifth grade, students wave the signs during Start With Hello Week.
Fifth-grader Riley Jones said the program is especially important because new kids frequently transfer to their school.
“We want to make sure they feel welcomed and comfortable here,” she said.
Getting cars in the drop off line to honk was essential, too.
“If they’re enthusiastic, then it shows other kids that people are nice here,” said fifth-grader Ali Davis.
The program doesn’t end at the first week of school.
Students practice what they've learned daily.
Fifth-grader Jane Linton said she says hello to people who look like they’re alone or tries her best to cheer up someone who is sad.
Isabella Silcox and Alex Minaberry, both in fifth-grade, said they also can invite others to work on projects together and show that they are willing to stand up for them.
The benefit goes both ways for fifth-grader Makaylah Kelly.
“We meet new people this way, too,” she said.
