SOUTHWICK — Based on the “butterfly effect,” administrators at Southwick Regional School are rolling out SRS Helping Hands Kindness in Motion to give students a way to make a difference for their communities and their fellow students.
“She said that she experienced this kindness in motion and would love to bring it here,” said SRS Assistant Principal Christopher Barbarotta, referring to Shannon North, one of the district’s administrative assistants who once worked at a school in Connecticut that implemented the program.
He said that after North approached him, he watched a video describing the program at North’s former school.
“I watched it and said that’s absolutely something, not only can we do it here, but I think that we need it. I think that the kids in the building need it and I think the community needs it, so I said, ‘Let’s run with it,’” Barbarotta said.
He said the program is based on the butterfly effect — the theory that small actions can lead to significant and often unpredictable consequences, impacting history, science and everyday life, like a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world could theoretically set off a chain of events leading to a tornado in another part.
Put plainly by Barbarotta: “Do something good” and it can ripple outward, creating positive change far beyond what we can see.
Once word of the new program got out, Barbarotta said he’s already had students talk to him about how they can do something good to put kindness in motion.
He said a couple of senior girls said they wanted to visit a nursing home once a week and bring board games to play with seniors when it’s convenient for them.
Another group of students has already asked Barbarotta about the possibility of painting a positive mural inside the school and then creating it again somewhere in Southwick, Tolland, or Granville to show the school’s connection to the communities.
While it was only approved by the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District School Committee last week, information about the new program is spreading throughout the school by “word of mouth.”
In fact, while Barbarotta was discussing the program, a student emailed him about a possible project.
He also said the School Resource Officer Matt Olson will reach out to the Police and Fire departments to see if they have any projects they could use help on, and that Olson knows of some elderly couples who could occasionally use some help like a fall clean up or shoveling their sidewalk after it snows.
Because the projects might need a small amount of money to get started making a difference, like buying the board games, the program will offer mini-grants of up to $100.
A review board comprised of staff members will review applications and choose the projects that need seed money.
If more than $100 is needed, the money can be used to raise additional funds, he said.
And it’s not just limited to students. Teachers can also get one of their classes involved.
Barbarotta said there is only one requirement for being awarded a mini-grant: The project must benefit others and spread kindness with the goal of making the world a better place.
The program will also reinforce the core values of what it means to be a SRS Ram: To be respectful; to be responsible; and to be compassionate,” he said.
And there doesn’t have to be money involved.
Barbarotta said doing something good can also mean volunteering at a local organization or civic group.
“The kids are really excited about this,” he said, adding that the student council was “extremely receptive.”
He also urged the community to reach out to him or North about other ways students can do something good.
To connect, email cbarbarotta@stgrsd.org or snorth@stgrsd.org.
