Words Matter: The Importance of Kindness and Friendship

“What makes a good friend?” What can you do if someone is unkind to you or a friend?” Lower School students pondered those questions as  they enjoyed a morning full of conversations and art projects with their buddies. This activity served as the final project for the No Place for Hate campaign for the school year.

Across the classrooms in Alpert Hall and the Butler Building, students watched a two-minute video titled Stick and Stone by author Beth Ferry. It tells the story of two friends, Stick and Stone, who discover the meaning of friendship as they go on a search for Stick’s family tree. Following the video, students broke out into their buddy pairs and engaged in conversations about what it means to be a good friend and how little things and support can help one another grow.

For the art project, the students created their own stick and stone to either take home or give to their buddy. With colored markers, google eyes, pipe cleaners, fabric pieces, and stickers, each pair decorated their popsicle sticks and stones with the design of their choice. One Kindergarten student decorated his stick with pipe cleaners to resemble a towel as he noted he is taking his stick to the beach while a second-grade student decorated her stone with ears made from blue and purple pipe cleaners and used black markers to draw a bear face.