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Mayor Mark Boughton, along with Nicole Hockey and Mark Barden, co-founders and managing directors of Sandy Hook Promise who each lost their first-grade sons, Dylan Hockley and Daniel Barden, at Sandy Hook, were on hand to present the award and $10,000 prize.
The school was acknowledged for making the “Start With Hello” program its own and for creating an overall plan to teach the skills it learned to it peers in the community, as well as creating a video and song to promote social inclusion.
“Broadview Middle School is honored to receive the 'Start With Hello' award from Sandy Hook Promise,” said Christine Miller, Social Skills Counselor at Broadview. "'Start with Hello,' was so simple and yet so powerful, that it took on a life of its own. Our students had questions, concerns, and ideas and these programs gave them answers and a platform to make a difference. Our student leaders organized a week of activities and celebrations that had a ripple effect throughout our school and beyond. The message of 'Start With Hello' - kindness and inclusion - has had a lasting effect that is now part of our school culture.”
This past February, Sandy Hook Promise hosted its annual “Start With Hello” call-to-action week. Over 600 schools across the nation implemented programing around the week. The research-based program teaches students the skills they need to create a community and culture of inclusion and connectedness, while reaching out to those who may be dealing with social isolation. To galvanize the schools to be creative and involve the community as a whole, a contest was held.
Sandy Hook Promise is a national, nonprofit organization based in Newtown, Connecticut. We are led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 that claimed the lives of 20 first-graders and 6 educators. Make the Promise at www.sandyhookpromise.org.
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