There are so many things about this school year that have been fundamentally different than any other year I’ve experienced in my educational career. While it’s certainly been one of the most challenging for everyone, I’ve also been continually impressed by the resiliency and determination of our students. That couldn’t have been more clear last month when our SCA students worked together in an effort to promote love and kindness across the district. 
While these students are used to meeting regularly in-person at SCA citywide events, they adapted their meetings to a virtual environment and kept working on some of their core objectives. In recognizing that this year has been difficult, they set out to find ways to simply “Share the Love” with their peers, younger students, and the community.
Ruby Starcher from Grassfield High School created a logo to unite the variety of “Share the Love” events students planned. These efforts included a social media BINGO board to encourage random acts of service, a week of daily words of affirmation, letters of appreciation to our local heroes written by our elementary and middle school students, and a “Share the Love” Spirit Day.
The culminating event of the month, a video challenge, asked students to share the things they love with us in just three words. The concept was simple, but I hope you’ll agree that the result of connecting with and appreciating the things that matter most to you can be powerful. Take a look:
Another powerful event was a virtual assembly and family webinar hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness for our middle and high school students. Their “Ending the Silence” program encourages students and families to work together to recognize early warning signs of mental health conditions and the steps they can take to help themselves or a loved one.
I’d like to sincerely thank our students for taking the lead to promote positivity, kindness, love, and support to one another and our larger community. I’d also like to thank the many staff members who consistently support their efforts. February might be over, but we hope you’ll take the lead from our students and find ways to continue to #SharetheLoveCPS throughout the rest of the year!