Copyright berkshireeagle
Stephanie Martin wants students to start their morning with a smile. Her kids are all grown up, but she still wants to show local kids they have community support. On Friday morning, she passed out stickers and greeted students at Drury High School as part of Start With Hello Week's Community Welcome Day. During it, elected officials, members from local agencies and businesses welcomed students as they arrived to school. "I think it's a great idea to be connecting with the community," said Martin, who works at Greylock Federal Credit Union. "It's fun getting high schoolers to smile first thing in the morning." Start With Hello Week is a nationwide initiative of the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation that "advocates for building empathy and inclusivity" in schools pre-K through grade 12. Thousands of schools across the country partner every year with the nonprofit, which is led by family members who lost loved ones in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. North Adams Superintendent Tim Callahan said someone always greets students outside Drury, Brayton Elementary, and Colegrove Park Elementary, but the week brought the broader community into the fold. Starting Oct. 20, students in the schools participated in themed dress-up days, like wearing school colors, pink for compassion, and green in remembrance of Sandy Hook. Each day, students were asked to do an act of kindness and answer daily icebreaker questions to encourage them to talk to new people. Outside Drury, Callahan, City Councilor Andrew Fitch, Martin, employees from Greylock and MountainOne Bank, as well as school personnel, greeted students. Martin, a financial wellness coach, said she wants to be a friendly face. "If they see you out in the community, they're maybe less likely to run away," she said. "I talk about money — nobody wants to talk about that. But now, maybe, they'll come talk to me." Brayton's greeting lineup included NBT Bank Branch Manager Al Bedini, Northern Berkshire EMS' Daniel Gigliotti, North Adams firefighter Matt Davis, North Adams Public Schools Director of Finance and Operations Nancy Rauscher, Fitch, and North Adams police officers. However, staff from MountainOne showed up with a special guest: Mo the spokesgoat, the bank's mascot. "Mo is integral to our programming and recognizable for kids, so it had to be Mo here," said MountainOne marketing specialist Ethan Coe. As each student hopped off the bus, Mo gave them a sticker and a hug. Davis, an educator for Student Awareness for Fire Education, said he wanted kids to recognize him in case of an emergency. As part of SAFE, he teaches kids about fire safety. "Our community is everything, without it we wouldn't be here," Davis said. "Making these kids more comfortable helps every situation." Brayton student Liam Jeery smiled as he got a sticker while his dad, Troy, walked him into the school. After Troy dropped Liam off, he was surprised his son didn't put up more of a fuss about leaving. "No crying, no hugs, he just walked right in," he said. Start With Hello Week also aims to combat "growing isolation" in schools and encourages youth to stay connected in their school and broader community. Callahan also said the week was part of the district's anti-bullying efforts. "We see students get into this experience, starting passing stickers around, and support each other as positive members of the community," Callahan said. He said the week also brings high schoolers together, even if they think they're too old for it. "They have fun with it," said Callahan. "They'll create posters, take pictures with each other and you can see the positivity. People may think that high school students think this is corny, but they're still kids too."
