October was a great month in the world of school counseling, because many of us had an opportunity to focus on our anti-bullying campaigns. Below are the details in how we celebrated our Place for Hate Week as our school focused on kindness and acceptance.
And if you are wondering what exactly does it mean to be a No Place for Hate school? Literally and logistically , it means that we sign up with the Anti Defamation League and fulfill the “what you might already doing as a counselor” requirements to give your school the distinction of being name a NPFH School. 3 anti-bias programs, a school-wide pledge to be kind, and a committee to steer the way forward in these efforts. In essence, it means that we are a school that reinforces the need to have a safe place to learn where we teach bullying awareness, upstander strategies, and why kindness is both important and expected.
How did we celebrate it this year?
MONDAY: ‘No Place For Hate’ Kick off Day–Wear NPFH shirt or Black and Yellow
TUESDAY: We Are All Same, We are All Different–Wear grade level color or a School Spirit Shirt
WEDNESDAY: Be Someone’s Hero Day– Dress like a superhero or community helper hero.
THURSDAY: It’s a “Wonder”ful Day #choosekind —Wear a shirt with a positive message “Be Kind” , etc. Principal will be reading the children’s book called “We are all Wonders” by RJ Palacio to emphasize the need for tolerance in our world and in our school. Also, the trailer for the movie Wonder can provide for great discussion.
Friday: Diversity Day– Each classroom teacher might have a different way to celebrate diversity day. Students can bring something special they want to share about their heritage/culture. This can be a photo of a family tradition or a CD of music special to your family. See attached letter if you would like to tweak to send home. This video can be shown to explain “What is Diversity?”
Also, since the timing with Halloween is so perfect, my lessons in 4-5th grade core curriculum lessons were a theme based activity from TPT found here.
It was a great week and I hope these ideas are helpful for you !