Hawley Elementary School celebrated the completion of its monthlong emphasis on kindness with an assembly on December 22.What Does It Mean to Be Kind? by Rana DiOrio. A "Kindness Cart" was also shared with each classroom in the school. The cart included books to read, hot cocoa to drink, and activities inspired by the effort to be kind.

The school community spent the month of December focusing on being kind, doing kind acts for others, and learning how to be kind throughout the year. The month was overseen by the school's Kindness Committee, and the assembly on December 22 was led by language arts consultant Patti Vitarelli and school counselor Kimberly Laiso.

Principal Christopher Moretti welcomed students to the assembly, which was held in the school's gymnasium. Mr Moretti observed that all of the students worked hard throughout the month to do wonderful things for each other.

The Kindness Month began with a kick off Kindness Assembly on December 4.

Throughout the month the school community read the book

Students and school faculty and staff also participated in a "#onesmallthing" effort to do an act of kindness to improve someone's day. The students and staff wrote their #onesmallthing on a piece of paper that was then added to a display on a wall in a school hallway. The display had the words "I will," and the pieces of paper shared all of the kind acts Hawley community members promised to complete.

A new Kindness Mailbox was also unveiled for Kindness Month. It was installed near the school's main entrance. According to Ms Laiso, students and staff are encouraged to drop off notes that acknowledge kind acts that are committed by others. Ms Laiso said the Kindness Mailbox has been "very popular."

As part of the assembly on December 21, a video was shared that paired pictures from themonth with people reading some of the "I Will" messages. Students also sang uplifting songs, with the words displayed on a screen for students to sing along. Each grade level led a song at the assembly. Songs included "Try Everything" by Shakira and "You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins.

"You did such a good job learning about kindness and then practicing it," said Ms Laiso at the assembly.

The final song of the assembly was "Nothing More" by The Alternate Routes.