On the week of October 6-10, the Bridgewater-Raritan High School held a Spirit Week, celebrating kindness, compassion, and school-wide positivity. The event was sponsored by the HOPE Squad, whose goal was to spread positivity and promote mental health awareness throughout the week.
Spirit week not only spreads kindness, but it is also in accordance with New Jersey law–specifically, the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act passed in 2011. This law was passed in an effort to stress the importance of preventing harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB), so it is no surprise that the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District was quick to support it. The district puts great emphasis on social and emotional learning, and the school decided to celebrate with a different theme for each day of the Week of Respect.
Whether it was in support of kindness or just the novelty of wearing pajamas to school, large numbers of Bridgewater-Raritan High School students eagerly participated.
On Monday, October 6, one could see the image of “Being Kind is No Sweat” come to life. This pun referred to wearing one’s favorite sweatshirt or sweatpants and revolved around the idea that showing kindness to people does not take much effort. Even a small act of kindness can make a great difference but does not require much work to do.
The theme on Tuesday, October 7 was “Team Up For Kindness,” which asked students to show their support of others by wearing their favorite team’s jersey. Students throughout the high school showed up in soccer jerseys from teams such as Barcelona or basketball jerseys for famous players such as LeBron James. Not only did this day reveal how support can be shown through the smallest gestures, it brought people together by connecting common interests.
On Wednesday, October 8, “Let Kindness Shine”, students wore bright neon colors such as bright green or pink. In contrast to the usual waves of black, grey and white, splashes of beaming color were seen in abundance. This theme was centered around the idea that kindness, no matter how small, can never be dull.
Thursday, October 9, “Keep the Peace and Be a Friend,” revolved around the idea that kindness shows compassion and empathy towards others. Students wore tie-dye colors to show they cared for others and understood how important it was to be able to understand other people’s situations.
On the last day of Spirit Week, October 10th, the theme was, “Put Bullying to Bed”—certainly a school favorite. Students engaged in this theme by wearing their favorite pajama pants to school, all varying styles and colors, showing the diversity within the school community.
Ms. Lisa Rotondi, the choir director and an advocate for kindness herself, had something to say about her opinions on kindness as well as spirit week
“As for how kindness is shown in our school–One way I enjoy seeing this is watching older students helping younger ones. Because I teach multi-age classes, we are fortunate to be able to share experiences across grade levels. We also have so many students here at BRHS who are eager to serve one another through clubs and service work. Nearly every club here (and there are SO many!) promotes kindness through cultural awareness, supporting people with similar interests, or helping students explore career and vocation options,” she said. “A highlight of Spirit Week for me was watching segments produced by BRTV each morning. I really enjoy when our TV spots tie into school-wide initiatives and highlight different student voices. It makes our very large school community seem smaller when we all watch the same thing in the mornings.”
It is safe to say that Spirit Week was a hit in Bridgewater-Raritan High School due to the ever-present compassion and kindness in the hallways. It was beautiful to see how small things could make lasting impressions—and more is certain to come in the future.
