CTA Dateline – March 2022 – KINDNESS WITH S.O.L.E.

During their SOLE/PBL (Self-Organized-Learning-Environment/Project Based Learning) elective class taught by Mrs. Nicole Miller, the 5th graders were tasked to create acts of kindness in the CTA community.

The students in 5B created a 2-week kindness challenge that they marketed to students in grades K-8 encouraging them to do a daily act of kindness.  Students who completed the Kindness Calendar they created, had their name entered into a raffle for a prize.  The class with the most kindness acts earned a kindness celebration!  Kindergarten and 6^th grade tied for the most participation and 5^th grade is planning their Kindness Celebration party.  Jr. High student, Aliza Weinschneider won a dress down day for the whole 7^th grade by filling out the Kindness Calendar.

5^th grade teachers, Rabbi Goldstein and Ms. Papson were so excited to see the student’s initiative!   Student representatives came to speak with Mrs. Herszage about some of the positive and negative experiences of running a large-scale project.

Elianna Frank shared, “We were really surprised at how engaged the students were across the grades.”

Tuvy Cooper mentioned, “We found that the 7^th and 8^th grade students weren’t as interested in the campaign.  We wondered if it was the prizes not being good for Junior High.”

Yaakov Claman commented, “I think we would consider kindness again, but our budget was small.  A larger budget would help make the campaign better.”

Now 5A is working on a kindness themed project and they took a trip with Mr. Leist to a natural stone and landscape supply company as they work on plans for their Kindness Garden.  Thanks Mr. Leist and Mrs. Miller for a fun field trip!