Request for Facilitators for High School Student Activity
Dear Members of the Blind Brook Community,
We are excited to announce that the High School will be running the School SPIRIT program next month. The School SPIRIT program is run by the United States Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service (CRS) to help schools identify key issues that are impacting our students and developing solutions for those issues. We ran a session of this program during the 2022-2023 school year and found that it was highly successful in bringing to light student concerns that might not normally be heard.
We are planning to run the School SPIRIT program again this year on Friday, February 28th. In order to run the program, we need community volunteers to help facilitate the student group conversations. I am reaching out to the community to request volunteers. Volunteers must be available for the entire school day, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and would need to participate in a two-hour evening virtual training on February 12th. We are looking for between 10 to 15 volunteers.
If you are interested in volunteering or have any questions about the School SPIRIT program, please let me know. I thank you for considering this and I hope that you would be willing to help us out!
Sincerely,
Dr. Colin M. Byrne
Superintendent of School
“Start with Hello Week” helps students create positive atmosphere
Students at Blind Brook Middle/High School have begun the new school year with a special reminder about how to create a positive atmosphere at the school and it begins with “Start with Hello Week,” which runs from Sept. 16-20.
The concept began with the Sandy Hook Promise, which helps support students and staff become more connected with one another.
“The goal is for schools to foster a culture of inclusivity and empathy in order to reduce bullying and increase connections,” the Sandy Hook Promise website states.
The week-long activities begin with students learning how to recognize when others are lonely or socially isolated, finding ways to help others feel included and techniques to start up a conversation.
“For this year's SWH Week, we hosted lunchtime activities that are focused on creating an environment where students can form new connections as well as recognize the trusted adults within their school community,” said Ashley Schlemmer, BBMS/HS Student Assistance Counselor.
“Some of our activities include writing conversation starters onto paper links to create a chain of ways in which people can engage with one another; creating Hello-Grams, with positive messages for students to share with their peers; wearing green to demonstrate solidarity and unity with the Sandy Hook Promise; writing letters of gratitude to trusted adults or completing a treasure hunt to locate spaces where students can find trusted adults; and finally, ending the week with a pledge to keep the Start with Hello spirit going throughout the year,” she said.