Students at Alouette Elementary turned lessons about kindness into action on Pink Shirt Day by walking through their neighbourhood to share positive messages and sweet treats with seniors living nearby.
“We went to two retirement homes in our community, up the street,” said principal Jennifer Gallop. “Our goal was to help students understand the impact their actions can have, and to give them an opportunity to spread joy within our community.”
About 520 students participated in the school’s first-ever kindness parade to Chartwell Willow Retirement Community and Venvi Sunwood Retirement Living.
Alouette students made colourful cards and posters with kind messages for the residents. Each class created at least two cards – one for each retirement community – while students at Maple Ridge Secondary helped by baking 200 cookies as gifts for the seniors.
In the weeks leading up to the parade on Feb. 25, students spent time learning about kindness, inclusion, and how their actions – positive or negative – can affect others.
“This project was a meaningful way for our students to put those lessons into practice by spreading kindness within our community,” explained Gallop.
Grade 3 student Stella said her class read several books during the month of February about what it means to be kind.
“We learned that being kind comes back to you,” Stella said. “If you do something kind, you’re going to get something kind done to you.”
During the walk, students wore pink shirts and held up posters with kind messages. About two students from each class went inside the retirement homes to greet residents, hand out the cards, and deliver the cookies.
“There’s this book that we read about filling their buckets,” said Grade 2 student Khloe. “We probably filled their buckets.”
Local RCMP joined in on the parade to ensure everyone’s safety and provide some tunes for the students waiting outside of the retirement communities.
“I was moonwalking and all that stuff, which was kind of fun,” said Grade 7 student Layla-Rose.
Another Grade 7 student, Brooklynn, said the experience reinforced the importance of kindness.
“Just spread kindness and be nice to people,” she said. “You never know what they could be going through at home or at school or just in their personal life.”
Gallop said she hopes students learned how far small gestures, like a card or a conversation, can go.
I hope students “share a little bit about the kindness they did today and they keep that going,” she said.
