Kindness Counts

Teri Ann Cox
Executive Director of The Children’s Center

Dear Center Families,

One of my favorite Maya Angelou quotes is, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

If you were to visit counselor/social worker Heather Corriveau’s office, you will see that same quote hanging on her door. Our recent door decorating contest revolved around our program wide expectations to Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful and Be Kind. Most of our classrooms focused exclusively on the “Be Kind” theme. I loved seeing all the creativity, and friendly competition, but the kindness messages are what really resonated with me. In early education and elementary school, there is not always a set plan to teach children to care about one another. I believe there needs to be.

As educators, we need to teach children kindness. We need to provide opportunities where children can care and show compassion. When children have opportunities to tangibly experience these emotions firsthand, they will learn, because we learn by doing. Students will learn to be kind, by being kind. And I believe our world will come to know kindness when we decide it is as important as teaching reading, writing and math.

Here’s to a kind and happy Valentine’s Day!

Sincerely,
Teri Ann