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02/10/2016 07:30 AMStacey Solecki has been a teacher for the past 12 years, but this is her first year teaching in her hometown of North Haven. It was bittersweet for Stacey to leave her colleagues and students at Hamden’s Spring Glen, but when she got the opportunity to teach in the school system she went through as a child and in which her children are now enrolled, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I had such an amazing academic experience here in North Haven, I couldn’t pass it up,” says Stacey, whose daughters are in 1st and 4th grade at Montowese where Stacey went to school when she was little. “I’m so, so happy to be back here.”
Stacey is now a 4th-grade teacher at Ridge Road Elementary School, where her husband went to school when he was young. Her family connections don’t stop there as Stacey’s mother-in-law also taught at Ridge Road for 27 years.
Growing up, Stacey remembers that her mother was “always helping others,” which inspired her to always give back and influenced her decision to become a teacher.
“I’ve always wanted to help people—that’s why I went into this profession,” says Stacey. “I get fulfillment from seeing people succeed and be happy.”
For Stacey, the lessons aren’t limited to reading, writing, and arithmetic.
“With two younger daughters,” she says, “it’s important for them to understand kindness goes a long way. We volunteer at the animal shelter and they love it. They’re getting fulfillment because they’re doing something nice for others.”
Just last month, Stacey took an opportunity to not only give back, but help her students do so, too. Two 4th-graders, Rebecca Ford and Molly Marottolo, approached the principal with an idea for a Kindness Club. They needed a teacher to supervise and Stacey jumped at the chance.
“It is such a great opportunity for the children to feel empowered and spread kindness and positivity throughout the community,” says Stacey, whose colleague Caitlin Fletcher will also be helping with the club. “We had a lunch meeting and they were very cute. They came with an agenda and some of their ideas.”
The Kindness Club has already initiated its first idea, a “Random Acts of Kindness Challenge” complete with a bulletin board asking, “Will you join the challenge?” where classrooms can join. Ideas included sharing inspiring quotes, cleaning desks, reading to a buddy, and sharing favorite books.
Stacey’s class immediately joined the challenge, making cards for a 1st-grade class. The 1st-graders returned with a giant “Thank You” sign.
“We explained that when you do a kind deed, it makes you feel really good as well,” says Stacey. “My class got very excited when they came in to say thank you. They were beaming and clapping.”
The Kindness Club will meet once a month during lunch to discuss the next act of kindness with possibilities for future months including fundraisers for community organizations, spirit days, and making cards for veterans or children in the hospital.
Stacey is happy to see how quickly the Kindness Club gained momentum. From the time the students approached the principal to the first-ever Kindness Challenge was only about a week.
“It makes me happy to help empower kids so their ideas can come true and they can see something they are planning actually transpire in the building,” says Stacey. “It also makes me excited that kids want to give back and make other people feel happy.”
As a language arts teacher, Stacey notes that her goal is to choose novels that contain inspiring messages and non-fiction stories about children doing good deeds or paying it forward. One of her favorite books to read with her class is Wonder by R.J. Palacio and noted that every student had a copy.
“I try to teach things that can be applied to life, like you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover or people by what they look like,” says Stacey. “I love the message in Wonder: ‘Choose kind.’ I try to infuse kindness as much as I can throughout the academic day.”
Another book that has been a big part of her teaching career is Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud. The book talks about people’s hearts being their invisible buckets and in life, there are bucket-fillers who are kind and bucket-dippers who are not. She integrates the story into her classroom with a bucket for each student.
“You learn throughout the book that being a bucket-dipper will never fill your bucket,” says Stacey. “In the classroom, students can fill each other’s buckets so at the end of the day, they get to read something kind that someone said about them.”
Stacey’s class also has “Way to Go Wednesday” where students can give a shout-out to someone in the class to someone who did something nice for them and “Thankful Thursdays” where students pen thank-you letters to a faculty members.
“After they share on Way to Go Wednesday, everyone responds by saying ‘Way to go’ to the one who received the shoutout,” says Stacey. “Kids love ‘Thankful Thursday’ because a lot of teachers are writing them back and it’s fulfilling for them to hear how their note impacted the teachers. At old school, one of the teachers lined his door with the ‘Thankful Thursday’ letters received and he always said everyone needs a door like that.”
Stacey hopes that the Kindness Club will continue to grow, not only this year, but in years to come, as well. She also hopes that other grades will also be able to meet with their own Kindness Club during their lunchtimes.
“You never know what someone is going through so you need to be empathetic and show kindness,” says Stacey. “Words and actions are very powerful. Sometimes I show the students Kid President’s videos and one of my favorite quotes is ‘If you can’t think of anything nice to say, you’re not thinking hard enough.’ We can always find goodness and kindness even though sometimes you have to dig harder and deeper.
“It will be great to see the Kindness Club grow and the impact that it could have,” adds Stacey. “It all started with two little girls’ dreams.”