It’s Cool to Care in Franklin Square

“It all started with an anti-bullying initiative,” said school Principal Vincent Butera. “We wanted to be sure that no child felt it was OK to bully anybody else. For the program to be effective, we felt we had to be ‘pro’ something. So we are pro-kindness.”
A committee was formed, composed of the principal, the assistant principal, three teachers, a parent representative and student representatives from each of the sixth-grade classes. The committee meets each month and is focused on ways kids can be kind.
“The kids have the opportunity to catch other kids caring,” Butera said. “They write down what they saw. Then the students are spotlighted. Their names are put on the bulletin board, and they are mentioned in the announcements.”
Acts of kindness can be small. “It can be something as small as helping someone on crutches,” Butera said. “Or if a child is sitting by himself and doesn’t have any friends to play with and a child says, ‘Hey come play with us.’”
The children are also involved in bigger acts of kindness. The sixth-grade classes visit the Orzac Center for Extended Care and Rehabilitation in Valley Stream five times throughout the year.
“The kids give up half their lunch period to go to the center,” said sixth-grade teacher Ann Marie Drosman. “They are there for an hour and a half and they interact with the seniors. They play games with them, and sometimes they take their instruments and play for them.”
The children have been visiting the center for about five years, and the residents appreciate their visits. “The kids do a wonderful job and the residents look forward to seeing them,” said Carolyn duSablon, director of recreational therapy at the center. “It’s a great intergenerational program. A lot of groups come at Christmastime, but this group comes all year round. They get a response that we don’t get. They’re not shy. They engage [the residents] in games. This group of children really brightens up the room.”
The kids, too, get a lot out of the experience. “I felt really good about myself,” said sixth-grader Marisa Mordini. “The first time we came I was really nervous. I noticed the residents didn’t have smiles on their faces, but when we left they had smiles. It really made me happy.”
The kids also did a Thanksgiving drive, in which they raised money and went to Stop ’n’ Shop and bought all the fixings for Thanksgiving dinners and donated them to needy families, Drosman said. Other classes adopted a family during the holiday.
“It’s really about all things promoting kindness and caring,” Drosman said. “Any little thing they do can make a difference. [The kids] are learning they can make a big difference doing small acts.”
“I’ve learned that it’s very important to help out because you can really make a difference,” Mordini said. “It’s important to care for others and be nicer to other people.”
Kristen Dehler’s sixth-grade class has gotten involved with the Ronald McDonald house, which is within walking distance from Schneider’s Children’s Hospital. “The children donate things like toothpaste, toiletries and things for the kitchen,” Dehler said. “They tour the building and hear about volunteer opportunities they can do when they get older.”
“The kids are learning to ‘pay it forward,’” Dehler said. “They go into other classrooms and read to the younger grades. They can make a card to make somebody’s day. Their learning that it’s not the norm for bullying to occur. It’s building character, and they’re learning to care for others.”
The kids are really taking the lessons to heart. “I’ve been helping more people,” said sixth-grader Marie Saladino, who is a member of the kindness committee. “Last year I was more quiet. This year I stand up for people who can’t stand up for themselves. I’ve learned that if you try hard at something, you can really achieve your goal. It’s good to help people in trouble.”
“I love the idea of giving back,” said parent volunteer Theresa Weegar, who is on the kindness committee, and whose daughter Sabrina is a sixth-grader. “There’s so much negativity on the front page [of the newspaper] — it’s all about what people do wrong. Most of us are good and have so much kindness in us. Our kids are good. Kids care.”
Weegar spearheads the program in which the kids raise funds for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. “The foundation brings smiles and happiness to children in the hospital by having hospital happenings, like clown parties and magician parties, bringing teddy bears to the children and bringing Nintendo DS gaming systems,” Weegar said. The sixth-graders raised $1,000 for the foundation by selling stars at the fall festival — people pay a dollar and sign their names on a star that is placed on the bulletin board — and running a car wash, Weegar said.
“I think the kids have learning what a good feeling a person can have by helping others,” Weegar said. “I think this is a wonderful program and I’m really thankful to be a part of it.”
In the future the kids are going to be involved in an autism awareness and fundraising campaign, Butera said. “There will be a number of different things going on,” Butera said. “They’ll go into the autistic classes and help out. They’ll go into the regular education classes and teach the other children about autism. They’ll learn about the kids that are around them all the time.”
They also will raise money for Camp ANCHOR (Answering the Needs of Citizens with Handicaps through Organized Recreation) with the Town of Hempstead, which is in the process of raising money to build its own building.
“If kids walk around the building and hear nothing but positive messages, it’s going to spread,” Butera said.