A fun new campaign that focuses on kids being kind to one another is taking off at Midas Creek Elementary School.
On this episode of the Supercast, we find out what “Rockin' and Rollin with Kindness” is all about and how the music-themed campaign is creating lots of kindness rock stars at the school.
Audio Transcription
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. A fun new campaign that focuses on kids being kind to one another is taking off at Midas Creek Elementary School. On this episode of the Supercast, we find out what “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness'' is all about and how the music themed campaign is creating lots of kindness rock stars at the school. The campaign kickoff involved a concert of course, and I was invited to DJ. You're about to find out how I did.
We are here with Principal Megan Cox at Midas Creek Elementary. “Rockin and Rollin with Kindness”, that's the program. How are you?
Megan Cox:
Yeah. Doing well, doing great this year.
Anthony Godfrey:
So tell me about this program.
Megan Cox:
Yeah, so every year we like to focus on kindness. And so I asked my teachers what sort of thing we wanted to do, and they wanted to go with a rock and roll theme. So we pulled our PTA in and they helped us make the magic happen. So our whole school is decked out in rock and roll through the genres and the decades. And we just kind of pull it into everything that we do.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, your faculty and your PTA are obviously fabulous because there's some incredible decorations through there. When you guys do a theme, you really do a theme.
Megan Cox:
Yes. Yeah. We don't go small. We go big. Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
You went big. There are inflated guitars and like the flying V guitar and bands that kids need to know about. I saw a poster of the Ramones. Too many people wear a Ramone shirt. They do not even know who they are. Now the children will know.
Megan Cox:
They will know. They will know the good bands of all generations.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about the focus on kindness over the years.
Megan Cox:
Yeah, so we have teachers nominate two kids every month who are being kind in the classroom, or out of the classroom, and kids can nominate each other. And then they get an award. Every month I come over the Intercom and we celebrate every child in every grade for the kind things that they're doing. I announce why they were chosen and they get to come down and they get a certificate, get their picture taken. And then we post that picture all month long. Until the next group is chosen.
Anthony Godfrey:
The things that get focused on by the school, by PTA, by faculty, and by you as the principal are the things that kids understand to be important. And I love that you have emphasized kindness. By the time the student has gone through seven years at Midas Creek, the message should have sunk in and really be a part of who they are day to day. That they're kind to each other.
Megan Cox:
Yeah. And our sixth graders, we choose student leaders, the classes choose the leaders every year, and they get to come up with a mission of what they would like to do. And so our last few years they wanted to include buddy benches. So we raised money as a school and we have buddy benches at our playground so that the kids can sit there and find friends and look for people that need a friend. And they do our announcements every day and they share a quote about kindness to the whole school. So that it really is a big message here that we're trying to have these kids really take on and help other kids at our school.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. I love that. We really have to create an environment where everyone's looking out for each other. Everyone feels like they belong and everyone's connected, because I think it prevents all kinds of problems, but it also helps with learning. That's really the ultimate focus is that when you're kind to each other, then you create an environment where learning can happen. Now tell me about the themes over the years.
Megan Cox:
So last year we did a Harry Potter theme, which was so much fun. We had kindness keepers, so they were part of the Quidditch team. And that was their monthly thing that they had, which was great. And our school was Hogwarts last year, everyone was divided up into houses and earning points by being kind. So it really was a big fun theme last year. And then the year previous we did, “We could all use s’more kindness”, and it was a camping theme and everything was tied into camping. And we had, you know, picnics and camp outs and whatnot during the school day that the kids could earn. And all of it is just surrounding kindness.
Anthony Godfrey:
Camp kindness. I like it. There you go. Very nice. Well, I have to say those are great themes, but this is my favorite.
Megan Cox:
Yeah. I knew you would like it.
Anthony Godfrey:
So thank you for inviting me to help DJ today. The kids have been looking forward to today I'm sure.
Megan Cox:
Yeah. We announced it and they are so excited to have the music, have you here. And then we have our PTA fundraiser that we are gonna be doing in September. And all of that's gonna be rocking and rolling with a color run and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, on my way back to the car, I'm going to have to walk through every hall to see all of the decorations. I saw Queen, Nirvana, the Ramones, Soul Train, lots of great stuff up there. And it's an opportunity to get the kids' attention. There's no avoiding it. There's no avoiding the theme of kindness. And that's exactly how we want it, so great job.
Megan Cox:
Thank you so much.
Anthony Godfrey:
It feels good. It feels right. You guys are doing great, but you know what? This time you need to be so loud that their microphones can't handle it. You need to blow out those speakers. Are you ready?
Students singing along with YMCA.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with the student body officers from two of our sixth grade classes here at Midas Creek Elementary, introduce yourselves.
Kiptyn:
I'm Kiptyn.
Ella:
And I'm Ella.
Anthony Godfrey:
And how long have you been at Midas Creek?
Kiptyn:
Four years.
Anthony Godfrey:
Four years.
Ella:
Since kindergarten,
Anthony Godfrey:
Since kindergarten. So this is year seven for you and you've seen the kindness themes over the years. Are you excited for this year's theme?
Ella:
Definitely.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's a launch to a great theme. So “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness''. What does that mean for you?
Ella:
It just means that just everybody should just be kind.
Anthony Godfrey:
And do you remember the themes from in the past?
Ella:
I only remember last year's.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what was last year's theme?
Ella:
Kindness keepers.
Anthony Godfrey:
Kindness keepers. So when you hear this theme, does it kind of remind you to treat people well?
Ella:
Yes, definitely.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, good. That's great. And how about for you? What does this thing mean to you?
Kiptyn:
Kind of the same as her, like, just to be kind to each other.
Anthony Godfrey:
You did to show kindness, especially last year with the point system.
Ella:
You can, there's this thing called a buddy bench, and if someone's sitting there you can go over and see if they're okay and ask them to play with you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. That's great. What else?
Kiptyn:
I've just been trying to like ask teachers if they need help with anything.
Anthony Godfrey:
So asking teachers for help, making sure people have a friend. That's great. And it sounds like you have amazing examples in teachers, in the PTA who are really supportive.
Kiptyn:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
What have you been looking forward to this year?
Ella:
This actually, just trying to be an officer for Midas Creek.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what's involved with being a student body officer here at Midas Creek?
Kiptyn:
One thing we get to do is we get to walk kindergartners to the bus at the end of the day.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh. So you get to help other students out? That's part of the “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness''. What are some of the other things that you get to do as a sixth grade student body officer?
Ella:
We also get to talk during assemblies and do the morning announcements.
Anthony Godfrey:
Ah, the morning announcements. Well, it's an awesome day to be at Midas Creek. Isn't it?
Kiptyn:
It is really awesome.
Anthony Godfrey:
All right. Well, you guys have a great year and enjoy your last year of elementary before you head to middle school.
Ella:
Thank you.
Kiptyn:
We will.
3, 2, 1. Here we go.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back, we'll talk to the rock star teacher behind the kindness campaign.
Break:
Hello, I'm Sandy Riesgraf, Director of Communications for Jordan School District, and we want to invite you to connect with us. So many exciting things are happening in your child's school, your neighbor's school, in every school here, every day. Don't miss out on following the fun or simply staying informed when there's important information we need to share. Join us at jordandistrict.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @jordandistrict. We can't wait to connect.
Students singing along with YMCA.
DJ:
Yes! Oh, wait. Sorry. I didn't quite get that. Could you really help Miss Cassie out please? Where am I going? Oh, is that right? Oh my goodness Ms. Anderson, these kids are teaching me a lot.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking with Kaila Anderson, teacher at Midas Creek. Fifth grade teacher.
Kaila Anderson:
Yes, sir.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about this “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with Kindness'' program.
Kaila Anderson:
We are super excited for it. We are gonna be able to have students each month who are kindness rock stars. And so we're going to be like highlighting them. I already have kids like, ‘am I gonna be one?’ I'm like, ‘you have to show me. We'll see.’ It’s a little competitive I can tell already. They're really excited.
Anthony Godfrey:
The kindness rockstar. That's a catchy name that makes me wanna be part of it. I think I'm ineligible, but I still, you know.
Kaila Anderson:
I don’t know, maybe if you're in my class. Come in a few days, I’ll decide.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'll stop in a few days. Okay. It's a high bar. You've got some great kids. We were just dancing out there. They've been looking forward to this.
Kaila Anderson:
Oh my gosh, yeah. They were like dancing on the way back to our classroom. They were just so excited. They were not ready to be done.
Anthony Godfrey:
I love the rock and roll theme. Where did that come from?
Kaila Anderson:
We actually voted on it as a faculty, which was super fun. And so there was a couple different ideas, but this one like won by a lot, like a landslide. Everyone was super excited. They've done a great job decorating the school so the kids have gotten part of it too. So it's been great.
Anthony Godfrey:
They've done an amazing job decorating the school. I've never seen the school more all in on a theme. It is top to bottom and the kids are gonna learn about some great bands too.
Kaila Anderson:
Oh yeah. It'll be fun to kind of see how we incorporate it in the classroom as well. So, like I was just even thinking about summarizing or inferencing and how you could use songs to do that. Be able to like introduce some of these rock and roll songs and see how they are able to like summarize it in a sentence. Right. So it'll be fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. No, that's great. Well, music is everywhere. And what's funny is listening to kids sing along with songs from a very long time ago. From the 1900s. And yet they still connect to some of those oldies. Yeah. Well, that's fun. Tell me what you've been looking forward to this year.
Kaila Anderson:
Well, me and one of my team teachers decided to departmentalize. So, I am teaching just literacy and writing, and she's teaching math and social studies and then we have a science teacher. I'm super excited for that because it's been really fun to kind of really focus on one subject and really work with the kids. And work with more kids, because I have two classes instead of just one. And so I'm getting to know more of the kids. I'm able to try different tactics that is kind of hard to do when you have all the subjects that you're trying to focus on. And so it's been really fun to like hone in and really get good and get them excited to read and be better readers.
Anthony Godfrey:
It also adds another caring adult in their lives, which creates an environment where they can learn anything.
Kaila Anderson:
Yes. I totally agree. I think classrooms really work when there's relationships, right? And so like you kind of get those feelings and those connections with music, but then when you have that caring adults as well, like it's even more concrete. And so I think that can just bring a lot of power.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I love the creativity and enthusiasm you've brought to this. Everyone's on board. It's been such a fun day and congratulations on a wonderful start to the year.
Kaila Anderson:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks again.
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see out there.