'Practice kindness every day'
A lineup of police vehicles turned on their lights Monday morning in the Slippery Rock Area Elementary School parking lot.
This time the scene was joyful, not one involving a crime.
State troopers and local police stood in a line with signs of encouraging words and funny faces as they greeted children exiting their buses and entering their school. The visit took place during a week that celebrates kindness.
“We're coming into their environment, in their school and showing them that we support them and they support us also,” said Trooper Josh Black. “Fortunately, we were able to come out with a good showing.”
Some of the students showed their appreciation by handing out treats to the officers, and many others offered masked smiles and waves as they hustled into the building.
“That's really nice of them to come down,” said fifth-grader Elle Campagna. “It's cool, and it was really fun.”
The school has been in the midst of celebrating Kindness Week, which was a tradition started last year.
This year, Carisa Takac, the school's guidance counselor, helped organize a week of lessons and activities that encourage students to be kind to themselves, their families, the environment and their school.
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According to Principal Kristen Czubiak, the students are encouraged to do random acts of kindness to brighten people's day.“Ultimately, we want students to practice kindness every day,” Czubiak said. “However, it is more important now than ever that we come together and learn to support one another with acts of kindness.”To kindergartner Hadley Ballew, being kind means being a good friend and helping others.“You can wave at them, smile, help them, say 'thank you' and be kind to other people,” Hadley said.Elle said the students will participate all week in activities related to kindness and how to express that to others.“We got this list of things we can do a week for kindness,” she said, before reciting her own. “Recycle trash, step up for someone in need and you can help younger students.”Last year, Kindness Week coincided with an official week for the Great Kindness Challenge in January, and it brought officers, firefighters and other community members to the school.With the coronavirus pandemic this year and many districts on remote learning, Czubiak said they had to shift to a different date, and change the format to meet safety standards.Although the officers stood in the cold, none complained but focused instead on the mission at hand.“With the times we're going through, it gives them a little boost of cheer and support and vice versa,” said Slippery Rock Police Chief Terry Fedokovitz.
Fedokovitz said kindness is an important message for a community as tight knit as Slippery Rock, and teaching that to children is important for molding future members of the community.“If these kids ... go on and stay nice people and treat each other with the same respect, it affects a kid for a lifetime,” Fedokovitz said.Both Fedokovitz and Black said the day also gave the children a chance to see and interact with police in a manner that involves cheer and mutual appreciation. “It shows that we're always here to help them,” Black said. “We're always out in the community. Plus, it also shows that we're people, too. We can try to bridge that gap.”
