Students in the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns Spread Kindness

In honor of Kindness and Inclusion month students throughout the district are pledging to create a positive change for those around them.

The district held a kickoff event on February 27 to provide students a deeper perspective on those with disabilities and to create opportunities for them to show how they can make a difference in their community.

Throughout the elementary schools students enjoyed a video read aloud of “Where Oliver Fits” by Cale Atkinson. Students were asked how they define kindness and inclusion and how they can show it. Each elementary class made a poster, which was part of a district-wide contest, about how they interpret Kindness and Inclusion after listening to the story and talking about it with their classes.

“It was so beautiful to see how excited and proud the children were to participate in the contest. The importance of kindness and inclusion was apparent in all the posters. You could tell that the children put a lot of thought into how the books made them feel and how one could put kindness and inclusion into action,” said Ida Michael, Trustee of the Board of Education, Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.

The posters are on display outside their respective classrooms throughout the district for a friendly competition where the winners will receive an ice cream party on March 22.

“It was really difficult to pick the winning posters as all of them represent feelings, effort, and time our students devoted to this project,” said Dr. Felipe Orozco, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction & Equity. “I was really glad we were able to see all of the efforts put into this kindness and inclusion initiative. For me, the lasting message our students are taking from thinking about acts of kindness, and supporting and including each other means more than the exercise of judging the work.”

One poster per building will be chosen based on the following criteria; alignment to the inclusion video, creativity, and content.

“The students are so young and innocent. They see kids in special education classes and they know they are different but they want to play with them,” said Morgan Goldstein, a Special Education Teacher at Sleepy Hollow High School. “I think the posters are a great way for them to show kindness and inclusion and acts as a way for them to come together.”

Students throughout the district pledged for inclusivity and to spread awareness about embracing disabilities. Each student signed a banner, in their respective school, which states “I Pledge to Spread the word INCLUSION.” They then received a sticker saying "I pledged to spread the word inclusion," both reminders that spreading kindness and being inclusive can be seen by all.

"Signing the banner holds students accountable as they are 'pledging' to spread the word inclusion,” said Ms. Goldstein. “The banners are hung in their respective schools after being signed, which will also serve as a visual reminder beyond Kindness and Inclusion Month."

At the high school level students watched a video that contained a compilation of clips from different movies and tv shows about how individuals with disabilities navigate in their world. Within the video was a clip from the YAI, located in Tarrytown, about a documentary on individuals with disabilities, as well as clips from Sleepy Coffee, Too located in Sleepy Hollow.

After the video, the floor opened up to a panel discussion made up of individuals from the documentary as well as Sleepy Coffee, Too. This allowed the students to participate in a Q&A session where they gained better insight into people with disabilities while providing them with information on how they can help those individuals. The panel was made up of current Sleepy Hollow High School students, alumni, and community members with disabilities.

Students will continue to show their support throughout the month by wearing “crazy socks” on March 21 to support Down Syndrome Awareness Day. In April, students will sport tie-dye during the month to show acceptance on World Autism Awareness Day.

“I thought it was important that the students wear tie-dye to show support,” said Ms. Goldstein. “I love being a Special Education teacher and it means so much to organize this district-wide initiative as it truly is such a great way to show how important kindness and inclusion is.”