Palos 118 South Middle School Wins Sandy Hook Promise Award

Palos School District 118’s Palos South Middle School recently received the Start With Hello School Award from Sandy Hook Promise for their community awareness campaign promoting kindness and inclusivity during Start with Hello Week in September.

Students in the school’s SAVE Promise Club walked in the Palos Park Fall Festival parade in September which kicked off a week of activities promoting connectedness including wearing green to promote kindness, changing seats at lunch to meet new friends, and meeting for games and sherbet after school for an outdoor shindig.

The week culminated in a group photo taken by drone with students and faculty spelling out the word ‘hello’ outside of the school for an event they called “Fly Together Friday.”

Start with Hello week is part of Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs program and teaches students to be more socially inclusive and connected to each other.

According to the Sandy Hook Promise website, “Student leaders paved the way for kindness, inclusivity, and connectedness with engaging and empowering activities. They celebrated the important Start With Hello program messages of kindness and inclusivity.”