Many students were dressed in green, and some wore festive accessories, at Hawley Elementary School on Thursday, March 17, for St Patrick's Day.

Students and teachers throughout the day took part in the Safe School Climate Team-planned activities designed to help students feel more comfortable joining games and conversations.

A scavenger hunt, planned by lead teacher Keri Snowden and school counselor Kim Laiso, had students finding paper shamrocks around the school. Each shamrock had a conversation starter written on it, for students to practice starting conversations.

Buddy Classes, such as Deborah Pond's kindergarten class and Shannon Davies's first grade class, joined together to create and use "fortune tellers," an origamilike folded paper game, as another tool to start conversations. Kindergarteners and first graders worked side by side as Ms Davies showed how to create the paper games.

Once the students had their games folded, Ms Davies and Ms Pond demonstrated how to use them.

Ms Davies asked Ms Pond to choose from one of the four possible first choices of the game, written on the fortune teller, "Love," "Saint," "Patrick's," or "Day." After Ms Pond chose, "Love," Ms Davies manipulated the paper game to a count of four, the number of letters in the word. Ms Pond then chose numbers shown within the game until Ms Davies flipped up Ms Pond's last choice, revealing a conversation starter.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Ms Davies asked.

"I do. I have a younger brother," Ms Pond said.

"What's his name?" Ms Davies followed up.

"His name is Josh," said Ms Pond.

Ms Davies explained her second question was not prompted by the game, but was, instead, an example of how the first question could lead to further conversation.

"Do you want to try it?" Ms Davies asked the room.

"Yeah!" the students answered together.

First grader Estelle Skerik asked kindergartener Morgan Kenny, "How do you celebrate your birthday?" and Morgan said she celebrates with birthday parties.

Across the room other students were practicing with their Buddy Class partners, as the paper fortune tellers crinkled and flapped.