Kool to be Kind Scavenger Hunt a Success

Youth Services Coordinator Elaine Daignault announced in a new release today that "the Kool to be Kind (K2BK), an empathy-based, anti-bullying program which trains high school students to act as mentors to elementary school students in Westport, “hit a home run” in January with the first organized K2BK Hunt for Kindness scavenger hunt. 

“Westport parents and co-creators of the program, Cindy Eigan, Lynne Goldstein, Sarah Green and Melissa Shein expressed their sincere thanks and gratitude to the Westport community for participating in the activity and look forward to other opportunities to spread kindness and empathy in town,” said Daignault. “They hit a home run.”   

Green said, “The hunt was a great success as third grade students from and were assisted by their parents in searching for Ally Power posters which were strategically displayed in community-minded businesses throughout town.”   

More than 40 Westport merchants helped to spread the K2BK message of treating others with kindness and respect by placing the student-made posters in their establishments.

“Each student was given a booklet of clues for merchants to stamp as the kids located the signs,” said Shein.  “Many merchants built on the theme by having special kindness products and services all week.” 

Eigan acknowledged that the activity brought a new dimension to the program.  “Our intent was to continue reinforcing the message that we are giving the third graders in the classroom -- that there is power in simple acts of kindness and when one person supports another, the kindness can spread to an entire community.”

“And Westport is indeed a kind and wonderful place,” Goldstein said.  “The activity also engaged parents in discussing the lessons that kids are learning in school, an important dialogue that we should all be having with one another.” 

Kool to be Kind teaches and models the impact of "kool" and "kind" behaviors by using tangible examples, role-playing and games to engage young learners. 

The program, inspired by the Anti-Defamation League’s programs for older children, was made possible through a cooperative effort with the ADL to train high school students in peer facilitation and empathy building.

“The program’s success is a true collaboration which would not be possible without the support of the Town’s Department of Human Services, and Westport School teachers, principals and administrators who have allowed children at Long Lots and Coleytown Elementary Schools to participate in this ground breaking initiative,” Daignault said. “Westporters are encouraged to keep an eye out for other K2BK community-based initiatives which seek to highlight the power of one, and the spirit of kindness and empathy in our community.”"