Kindness at AHS
Each month, as part of our Anne Hutch has H.E.A.R.T. program, we select a specific ethical habit we believe is critical to ensuring a safe and supportive school environment in which all students can learn at high levels. Throughout the month, as a school community, we seek a deeper understanding of the habit and come to an agreement about what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like at Anne Hutchinson School. In the month of September, we will focus on kindness.
As educators, we are always moved by the natural inclination of our students to be kind to others and we appreciate that this natural inclination has been nurtured well by the supportive families of Anne Hutchinson School. At school this month, we will closely examine the active nature of being kind, specifically paying close attention to or actively noticing the reality of other persons. External circumstances are easier to note and quickly respond to, such as a door that needs to be held open for someone or a fallen friend on the playground that needs to be assisted to the nurse’s office. Throughout September, we will celebrate such acts of kindness but also challenge students to look beyond external circumstances to think about the inner lives of other persons as well. How can you tell when someone is nervous, frustrated, or lonely? How might you respond with kindess?
This month’s schoolwide read-aloud, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, serves as a powerful reminder that our actions do matter, and that our kindness—or lack of it—affects everyone around us.
“Ms. Albert had brought a big bowl into class and filled it with water. We all gathered around her desk and watched her drop a small stone into it. Tiny waves rippled out, away from the stone. This is what kindness does, Ms. Albert said. Each little thing we say and do goes out, like a ripple, into the world. Each kindness makes the whole world a little bit better.”