John Norquay School acknowledged September 11th by declaring it "A Day of Extreme Kindness". The purpose was to commemorate the day without focussing on the terrorism or the deaths that occurred last year on this date, but to find ways of healing the world immediately around us.
While our students are encouraged to always be kind, helpful and caring to others, what we wanted for September 11th were deliberate, planned acts of kindness.
On September 11, Norquay students
- brought in a picture book from home to read and present to one of the Kindergarten students
- baked cookies and distributed them at the Skytrain station
- made posters about kindness to display throughout the school. “Kindness is often hard to give away. It keeps returning to you.”
- handed out lollipops to all adults in the building
- made cards of good wishes and gave them to people on Slocan Street
- made friendship letters and bracelets for each student new to our school this year
- collected for the Food Bank
- cleaned up litter in the lanes behind the school
- made paper flowers to take to the Three Links Care Home
- made appreciation cards for our local firemen
- made cards that were delivered to Children’s Hospital, enclosing a lollipop and a picture of the child who made the card
- learned and practiced positive language for the classroom and playground
- taught a game on the field at lunchtime, welcoming others to join and play
- performed a special welcome for our new secretarial staff
The positive feedback and warm feelings of accomplishment were significant for the students and their teachers. The response from members of the public was enthusiastic and, at times, tearful. Some of the classes plan to continue their “Extreme Kindness” activities throughout the year.
