Building Belonging Week: September 16-22, 2024
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The 3rd annual Building Belonging Week! This district-wide initiative, hosted by HCSD and the IDEA Committee, is designed to deepen students' sense of belonging, celebrate the rich diversity within our district, and empower them to become inclusive community members.
Throughout the week, students, staff, and families engaged in a variety of activities and discussions focused on these key themes:
Classrooms: Lessons, discussions, and activities highlighted belonging, the value of diversity and inclusion, and the importance of being an upstander.
Library: A curated booklist exploring these themes is available for students.
Physical Education: P.E. lessons emphasized cooperation, teamwork, and inclusion of students of all abilities.
At Home: Families are encouraged to continue the conversation using the discussion starters provided through Konstella and the IDEA Committee’s Instagram.
Special Events: Parade for Belonging & Crocker Belonging Carnival
#We All Belong Today, HCSD kicks off 3rd Building Belonging Week with “We All Belong Day”. Decades of research shows that students’ sense of belonging can have a profound impact on their wellbeing, identity development, and academic achievement.
To better understand the “why” of this week - click on the links below.
Conversation starters:
Do you think it’s important for people to feel like they belong?
Have you ever felt like you didn't belong?
Describe a time when you felt like you belonged.
How can you help make others feel like they belong?
#Celebrate Differences Today, students will explore embracing differences – both the things that may make them different from their peers, and things that may make others different from them. Enjoy the short video “Nobody is Normal” with your student about how feeling different is a universal feeling, and how embracing your “different” is the key to authentic connection and belonging.
Conversation starters:
What makes you different & unique?
What can we learn from people who are different?
Think about your friends, classmates and family…what are some things that are different about them? What are some things that are the same?
Have you ever felt you needed to change something about yourself to fit in?
#FindingCommonGround It’s often said, "a reader lives a thousand lives." According to research, reading fiction shows us different viewpoints, increasing empathy and understanding, and shaping how we relate to others.
Fiction has the capacity to transport us into a character’s mind, allowing us to see and feel what they do, exposing us to life circumstances very different from our own. That’s because literary fiction is essentially an exploration of the human experience - words on a page can introduce us to what it's like to: be swept up in a war, born into poverty, or immigrate to a new country, and more.
This expansive perspective can influence how we relate to others in the real world.
#BeanUpstander We’d all like to consider ourselves helpful and quick to lend a hand whenever the need arises. Explore just how long it takes people to offer assistance to someone struggling right in front of them in “The Science of Empathy”.
Conversation starters:
How do you think this video might relate to bullying?
What is the difference between being a bystander and being an upstander?
Have you ever been in a situation where you saw someone being an upstander? How do you think each person felt in that situation?
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