Lower School Students Learn About the Power of Word and Empathy
Students in the Lower School, Grades Pre-K – 4, took part in a new assembly format this week to increase student awareness of diversity.
The focus of the assembly was words are powerful and empathy. Mrs. Dania Paul, Grade 3 teacher, read part of a story called “You Are Special” to the students. In this story wemmicks, or wooden people, live in a community which awards stickers to one another. Some of the characters in this story receive stars or compliments, while other characters are given dots for not fitting in. As students listened to this story, they were invited to turn and talk to share their ideas with their classmates about the characters and how they were feeling.
This assembly was part one of a four part series being offered this year by the school’s Diversity Committee. Students were introduced to the term empathy, and they were challenged to imagine how fellow students may feel about their individual differences when careful words are not chosen to discuss differences. Students participated in many rounds of “turn and talk” in order to process their ideas and feelings about this topic. Senior School students also took part in helping to launch this additional assembly format. Older students were utilized to help the children write their ideas of more empathetic ways to approach their classmates.
Thank you to all of the teachers and students who took part in making this first assembly amazing! It was a terrific community activity for our students in helping to build an inclusive environment for our school where each of our students is unique and special. Having a variety of backgrounds makes us an interesting community, and we can honor our differences. Using kind words and actions is one way we show respect for one another.
