Rocky Point Students Spread Kindness With 'A Gnome In The Home'

Press release from the Rocky Point Union Free School District:

Dec. 30, 2021

Students in Rebecca Pagnotta’s third grade class at Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School in Rocky Point have created a fun activity for the month of December.

As many children are aware of elf on the shelf activities, these third graders wanted to do something similar. Mrs. Pagnotta pitched the idea of “Gnome in the Home” with their resident gnome, Heartly, who promotes kindness. Each morning when the students arrive, Heartly has left a kind task for them to do that day. They have written thank-you letters to the lunch aid, Ms. Iacapelli, given meaningful compliments to someone, helped a friend in the class, helped at home with a chore, wrote get-well cards to Mr. Camarda and even wrote kind comments to themselves. They were then tasked to make an appreciation card for someone at JAE. They chose various people to write to, including their bus drivers, Principal Bullis, the custodial staff, the security guards, reading and math teachers and even Mrs. Pagnotta.

“The task was to try to put a smile on someone else’s face. Well, when I unexpectedly received one – it sure put a smile on my face,” she said.

The students have been putting Post-it notes on the classroom bulletin board recording their acts of kindness to see how many they can do in just one month.

This press release was produced by the Rocky Point Union Free School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.