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At Morgan, It Starts with Hello

In an effort to combat feelings of loneliness and social isolation that might contribute to school violence, The Morgan School is hosting a series of events from Tuesday to Friday, Oct. 9 to 12 with its It Starts with Hello Week.

This week’s events are being run by representatives from clubs including Peer Advocates, the Kindness Club, Husky Leaders, Student Council, Gay Straight Alliance, and REACT. The program guidelines are developed by The Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a non-profit organization formed after the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting.

The Morgan School ran the program for the first time in March 2018. However, Jill Paglino, the program coordinator for Clinton Youth & Family Services and the Peer Advocates advisor, said that the school was unable to do all the events planned due to snow days that occurred during that week.

“Some of the elements are the same, and some are new,” Paglino said.

One of the events Paglino said will take place this year are a series of “hello letters,” which students are encouraged to write to classmates to whom they don’t normally talk. Other activities include playing ice breaker game such as human bingo, and a “mix it up lunch” where students are encouraged to sit with people they normally don’t.

“The idea is to get people to know people outside of their group,” Paglino said.

“They’ll probably find they like the people, even if they don’t know them,” said Allison Goguen, who—along with classmates Rebecca Arribas Cockley, Leo Woods, and Lexie Arnoldi—is helping organize the event.

Paglino said the week is full of what she termed “low risk activities.” As an example, Paglino said that while walking up and introducing yourself to a person you don’t know may be intimidating, there aren’t negative consequences to the action.

Paglino said that while Sandy Hook Promise does have a legislative arm, the events during this week will not be political in nature and gun control will not be discussed, unless the kids specifically decide to bring it up.

The student organizers believe that talking about the issues that go along with social isolation would be a key for the week.

“I think it’s really important to raise awareness and I think prevention is key,” said Arribas Cockley.