Once we have identified our Helpers and obtained the necessary parental permissions, Phase II takes us into the real substance of the program.
Our initial Helpers will begin to practice for the assembly production and learn how to lead and coach classroom soft-coping-skills exercises. (This also gives teachers a break from the front of the room; they are welcome and encouraged to participate as a recipient of the exercises.)
During Phase II, we have several preventive initiatives that we will implement in the school:
Any Ordinary Tuesday
This initiative is a nod to the lesson we learned from Aaron Stark’s experience.. to bring normal social interaction into each student’s life.
Each class is encouraged to pair up (unlikely pairs) and spend five minutes getting to know the other classmate. Find ways that you two are alike.. and different. Then share with the class. This is a repeatable exercise by varying the pairings. Do a different pairing the next week; create a chart wheel so that each student will take a turn with every other student in the class. Provide a list of questions that they can use to aid in their discovery of one another.
We will also establish in-school tutoring (to improve grades) and in-school mentoring (to explore their interests and increase self-esteem) programs.. tutoring and mentoring provided by our Helpers.
In-School Field Trips
Each month, classes participate in a 5 minute drawing session to make cards for a different person / group.. ie. the Principal, office workers, cafeteria workers, janitors, nurse, etc.. and then they go as a group to deliver the appreciation cards and thank the recipient, in person, for all that they do.
Each school will be different, but however many classes there are in the grade will be the number of ‘persons of appreciation’ the school will identify. Each month the classes rotate, taking a different person / group. Every class participates and each person / group receives a set of cards from a different class each month.
Intentional Random Acts Of Kindness
This is where the rubber actually does meet the road, so to speak! A wise person once said, “To learn love, is to do love,” and that is what this phase is all about.
By now, we’ve been talking a lot about our feelings and becoming aware of how our thoughts and emotions impact us and also how we impact others.. but if we really want to affect change in our youth, we must get them active.
There are numerous empathy-learning activities that kids of all ages can participate in: spending time with shelter animals, walking them and playing with them; working with Meals On Wheels programs; playing board games with nursing home residents; participating in group activities for random acts of kindness, etc.
NOTE: All activities are chaperoned, and all chaperones are fully vetted and background checked.
Participants must be accompanied by a trained and certified program adult at all times. This not only helps ensure their safety and the integrity of the program, but it also serves a larger purpose. We want our participants to learn from their activities, and feedback is critical to their development of respect for others and empathy.
A simple statement like, “Did you see her face light up when you walked over and asked her to play the game with you?” will reinforce the lessons the program is designed to teach. We don’t always notice little things like that for ourselves and that is why it is so critical for our chaperones to be on the lookout for all of these positive reactions so they can discuss it later.
Pointing out these moments is incredibly important in fostering and reinforcing these great new positive-interaction skills our participants are developing.
This is the portion of the program that models after the JTPA Program:
Students will earn one token for each hour that they participate in the intentional acts of kindness activities. Then later, they turn in their tokens for a group reward such as a trip to a local bounce house like Monkey Joe’s, or fun center like Chucky Cheese, or a summer swim party.
As we get better at this, teachers (and others) will naturally come up with their own ideas.. we encourage you to please share them with the group!