A couple of compliments written on a poster sheet for a School Street Elementary School student said “You are cool” and “You are my BFF” while another stated “You help me in math.”
At the end of the “Friendship Day” activity, fourth-grade students in Abbie Rhoades’ class found out they had lots of friends, 24 to be exact, who gave them personal compliments on poster sheets that they could save as keepsakes.
Rhoades said she and the students decided to conduct Friendship Day instead of the traditional Valentine’s Day card exchanges as the new activity would provide personal comments and compliments.
“We are writing compliments or words of encouragement for something we really like about that person on their poster,” Rhoades explained. “We will all, at the end of the day, have something from each of our classmates to take home. We figured instead of Valentine cards, which usually get thrown away or don’t really hold a lot of meaning, we thought (a poster) would hold some meaning for them.”
Rhoades said she hit on the new activity after speaking with other fourth-grade teachers about Valentine’s Day.
“We’re not celebrating love (with the classroom event), we’re celebrating more friendship,” she continued. “So we figured we’d come up with something to celebrate friendship.”
Rhoades said a prelude to the activity for the students was the reading of the book, “Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch” by Eileen Spinelli.
The children’s book is about Mr. Hatch, an older man, who is lonely and sad until he receives a surprise package of chocolates on Valentine’s Day with a note that states, “Somebody Loves You.” When Hatch shares the candy with others and tries to find out who sent the package to him, he finds out it wasn’t meant for him and becomes sad again.
“But then everybody in the neighborhood realizes they love him, even though the box wasn’t meant for him,” Rhoades remarked. “So they threw a party for him in the end.”
Rhoades said the students talked about how one nice gesture toward someone, such as a box of chocolates or kind note, can make someone feel so much better. She is hopeful the students, in turn, can refer back to their posters containing kind compliments on days they’re feeling blue.
Principal Sarah Tingley said she thought the new activity was a great idea.
“I think this activity affords the students the opportunity to celebrate one another’s unique gifts and talents that they bring to the classroom by having them think about their peers by writing a specific positive trait about them,” Tingley said. “It reinforces to the writer that they are fortunate to have so many diverse personalities within their classroom, and for the recipient it may surprise them what their peers appreciate about them.”
In addition, Tingley believes the activity may help some of the students see themselves in a more positive light.
“I commend Mrs. Rhoades for doing this activity as it really does promote a positive classroom community,” Tingley concluded.
Several students also commented on the poster activity, explaining they liked the idea of writing compliments instead of passing out Valentine cards to others.
“This is an amazing thing to do,” said student Braylon Austin while looking up from a poster he was signing.
Another student, Maddison Kagarise, said she thought the activity was not only fun, but “more meaningful than Valentine’s Day cards.”
Her friend, Abbagale Spencer agreed and added, “On Valentine’s Day you’re showing your love, but for Friendship Day you’re showing your friendship.”
