On Thursday, Dec. 1, Annandale Elementary fifth-graders had a special day, as they gathered together in the gym for an all-day Kindness Retreat. The goal of the day was to give tools to students to develop empathy, promote kindness and prevent bullying.
"The goal of the day was to bring students together, to help them connect with one another in meaningful ways and to impart the strong message of kind actions and reactions to others," said AES Social Worker Amy Miller. "The retreat empowered kids to become ‘everyday heroes’ by using kindness to include others, be respectful and make Annandale Elementary a better place."
Youth Frontiers
The Kindness Retreat is a product of Youth Frontiers, a Minneapolis-based company. According to their website (youthfrontiers.org), their mission "is to partner with schools to build communities where students thrive socially, emotionally and academically."
Youth Frontiers was started by Joe Cavanaugh in 1987. Cavanaugh was inspired by a student who shared that she had been bullied at school. The student asked Cavanaugh if there was something he could do to make kids at school stop making fun of her.
Cavanaugh wanted to build school communities where every person is treated with dignity and respect, where students hold one another accountable for behaviors and stand up for one another.
"When we are connected and feel a sense of belonging, we treat people better. We treat ourselves better," Cavanaugh said on the website. "Youth Frontiers reaches kids at critical ages and provides dynamic experiences that enhance self-awareness, empathy and connectedness."
According to the website: "Youth Frontiers exists to inspire character and build communities. In community, we hold one another accountable for behaviors and we stand up for one another. A young person’s character shapes their destiny and impacts their community. Research shows that students with high social-emotional learning and character skills perform better academically and take responsibility for the culture of their school. Character traits are built and enhanced by experiences throughout our lifetime."
Youth Frontiers offer one-day retreats centered on values such as kindness, courage, respect, honor, purpose, wisdom and leadership for students in the fifth through 12th grades. The Kindness Retreat is the one designed for fifth-graders.
The retreat
The students at AES were divided up into 28 different groups. Each small group had about six fifth-graders and was led by an Annandale High School volunteer.
"We are so grateful that 28 high school students volunteered to lead small groups and serve as great role models for our students for the day," Miller said. "Without them, the retreat could not have happened."
Two facilitators from Youth Frontiers were on hand to lead the program, a combination of fun songs and meaningful activities for the day. The fifth-graders had fun while taking in the messages about kindness and how their actions affect others.
"The facilitators really engaged every single student and made each one feel important," Miller said. "They were charismatic, engaging, talented and definitely knew how to connect in important ways with our fifth-grade students. I think students, high school volunteers and AES staff were impressed with the caliber of expertise and skills that Youth Frontiers brought to a really wonderful day."
Reaction
The day ended with the students given the opportunity to share their thoughts and reflections about the day.
"They shared things from their heart and it was very powerful," Miller said "I hope the day was life-changing and has a lasting impact on our students. I know it made a huge impact on me, as an adult. I think the high school volunteers took away a lot from the day as well."
Kaylynn Foley is a student in Amy Gagnon’s classroom and attended the Kindness Retreat.
"There is sort of a bullying problem at our school but the Kindness Retreat has already made a difference," said Foley. "I learned not to bully and to treat people how you yourself want to be treated. My favorite part was when we made a big train. It made me laugh and helped us include everyone."
Olivia Minear is a fifth-grade student in Mike Zuehlke’s classroom.
"At the Kindness Retreat I learned that kindness is really important. But some kids don’t receive kindness very often," Minear said. "My favorite part of the day was when we made lists of what we can do to make our school a better place.
"It encouraged some of us to be kinder and make these things happen. Bullying can be a problem at our school even if we don’t know we’re doing it. The Kindness Retreat will help make our school a better place."
Jake Seaberg is a fifth-grade student from Chad Gagnon’s class.
"I don’t see a lot of bullying, but if there is, this retreat will help," Seaberg said. "We learned what students do to bully other students and different ways to stop that bullying. My favorite part was singing the songs we all knew and adding actions to the songs."
Other comments overheard from students:
"I liked it when we got to listen to what people wanted to thank someone for, for what they did for them."
"I liked it at the end when kids said what they wanted to say they were sorry for."
"When it was over I wished the day could start over again."
"It was one of the best days ever."
"At the end of the day I was happy and inspired, but sad the day was over."
What next?
Youth Frontiers provided the fifth-grade staff with follow-up lessons and materials.
"We hope to continue the momentum of the theme of kindness and continue to use the language, as well as the skills taught to improve the actions and behavior of our students to create a more peaceful, safe and happy school," Miller said.
"We hope to make the retreat an annual event for our fifth-grade students."
The Kindness Retreat was funded and supported with the help of the Annandale Eye Clinic and the Annandale Elementary PTO.
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