Students in three combined Kindergarten-Grade 1 classes at James Thompson elementary are making new friends not just outside their classroom walls, but beyond their school playground.
Just over 60 students circled their northwest Richmond neighbourhood one day last month to hand out cookies and caring messages to any neighbour who opened their front door.
Teachers Denise Vargas Cruz, Tanya Rose and Danielle Ginet teamed up to show students the importance of community connections.
After the local field trip concluded, students, parents and teachers were happy to have forged a special, new relationship with nearby senior resident Bev Dickinson, said Rose.
Initially, Dickinson did not answer the door but persistence paid off and the children learned that she had raised children who attended Thompson three decades ago. And for the longest time, Dickinson had lost her connections to the neighbourhood school, said Rose.
Then, “she came to school one week later to visit. She was very teary when she came in. She said it warmed her heart to have the children visit her,” added Rose.
Vargas Cruz said much of the inspiration for the project came from the notion that many people are lonely.
“This was really about learning about being a caring and kind neighbour,” said Vargas Cruz.
Ginet said the project fit into the new curriculum by fostering a “growth mindset” and promoting an understanding of others as well as empathy in a tangible way.
“We explained it like a ripple effect. Can our kindness ripple out into the community and show that we have neighbours?
“I think the kids really understood their actions can have an impact,” said Ginet, who said fewer face-to-face connections is not just a problem in Richmond, but across North America.
“I think it’s just a changing world. Kids are experiencing things differently. Everyone seems to be a lot more disconnected, so we wanted to break that down,” said Ginet.
According to Vancouver Coastal Health, if there was one focus to improve community health in Richmond, it would be to improve community connectivity and to lower social isolation.
Vargas Cruz and Rose said initially many people were surprised that they were receiving free cookies.
If someone did not answer, the packages were left at the door.
Thompson elementary is situated southeast of Westminster Highway and No. 1 Road, near Gibbons Park in a detached home neighbourhood.
