Mrs. Poulin’s Kindergarten Class

Posted by Gabe on January 25, 2010 under Kids are Heroes, Social Media | Be the First to Comment

Back in September of 2009, I spotted the first “shout-out” to one of our heroes from Mrs. Poulin’s Kindergarten class. I thought, “Wow this is really cool!” Save for holidays and break periods, the kids from that class have been sending words of encouragement to our heroes on an almost daily basis. If for some reason something special causes them to run out of time, you know the kids give Mrs. Poulin an earful. “Hey! We didn’t do Kids Are Heroes today!” And she then assures them they will make up for it the next day.

I have admired Gail for her innovative use of our web site. Each morning, they choose a story that moves them and they respond to it. And the shout-outs are not just “Good job!” and “Love what you are doing!”. One can clearly tell that the sentences are derived from the conversation they had and that they clearly understand what each hero is doing. What a great way to teach young kids. And it’s not all about being in the audience, either. They have been inspired to participate as well. One of our heroes, young Hannah Turner, really made an impression on them — so much so that they decided to collect socks and distribute them to local shelters. (In the end they donated 124 brand new pairs of socks to 3 area shelters.) I really wish every school in the country was aware of what one woman from Massachussetts is doing. She even has a blog (read in her words how Kids Are Heroes is affecting her students) and the kids are on Twitter!! (Mrs. Poulin also has her own Twitter account.)

The other day, the class gave a shout-out to new hero Daniel Dietz. Daniel is a teenager who is quite skilled with a yo-yo. He performs in front of crowds and collects donations for the “Smile Train”. (This is an organization that provides the means for kids to get surgery to repair cleft palates.) Well Daniel was excited that he got a shout-out from these young students, especially because he just happens to live near them. His mom asked how he could “shout back”. When we designed the Shout-Outs section it was supposed to be a one-way avenue to help our heroes feel good about what they are doing. But as we discover in life many things that get designed one way get used in another. So I pointed Daniel to the Comments section. If he referenced the shout-out that would give the kids a way to interact with him. Daniel did leave a comment and I alerted Mrs. Poulin to look for it. (Encouraged by this, we have since implemented a more seamless way for heroes to interact with others. Conversations will be published in the Kids Are Heroes Café.)

When I told Gail that Daniel had indeed left a comment, this was her response:

In this particular hero instance, the kids said, “I hope he writes back.” This is an awesome experience all around. Not only for the social emotional aspects but also as:

a literacy tool – reading and writing for meaning
technology – using tech to communicate with the world and learn more outside of our own little zip codes
the empowering experience of having kids serving as the heroes which can make our own goal setting a reality.

I couldn’t agree more. In addition to that, I am envisioning the confidence that will build in our heroes as they interact with kids from all over the country. Boy am I hoping that this is a trend that takes off.

Read the shout-outs from Mrs. Poulin’s class (and from others) here.