My name is Michelle Hansen, and I am a mom to three children at HBRES. Abby is in 5th grade, and Emma and Eli are in 3rd grade.
Throughout the years my children have been Royals, I have entered every parent-teacher conference with a specific set of questions. Of course, knowing they can meet reading, writing and math standards is important. Yet, I want to know if they are kind. Do they help others? Are they trying to be good kids?
Along the way, every teacher my children have had the opportunity to learn from have gone out of their way to teach and inspire these traits that I hold close to my heart: kindness, helpfulness and integrity. They teach it by incorporating such lessons into everyday learning. They see a need in the classroom and use every resource available to fill that need. That could be physical items that a student doesn’t possess. Maybe that is a hug during a hard day. Maybe that support takes the form of finding a different staff member resource that is more trained to help. In our 6 years at HBRES, I felt confident these events were happening.
And now I know that first hand.
This is also my first full year working at the elementary school. I am lucky enough to be a para in one of the Early Childhood classrooms. The people that are in these classrooms and in these hallways are working their hardest to raise learners AND kind human beings. And they aren’t just sending home worksheets talking about kindness lessons. The staff in this building are truthfully and honestly doing everything they can, sometimes after school hours or on the weekends, to make sure our children are taken care of in every way possible. And if there is a need, a team will come together to help without looking for any acknowledgement.
I feel very fortunate that my children are in this learning environment, learning their ABC’s and 123’s as well as learning to grow up and bring goodness into this world. We as a community should be grateful for this amazing resource we call HBRES.