Dinkelmeyer Students Power P.S. I Love You Day With Pride
Student leaders were on a kindness mission at John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District on Feb. 13. The student council spearheaded several projects for P.S. I Love You Day, a national initiative that is dedicated to eradicating the stigma around mental health.
The efforts spread love both within the school and out in the community. The kindness committee created a bingo board listing 16 acts of kindness that students could complete over the winter break. If a child completes four of those acts in any horizontal, vertical or diagonal row, they can bring the board in when school resumes for a certificate of recognition.
Student council’s community service committee spearheaded a P.S. We Love You baby drive, which ran from Jan. 27 to Feb. 13 for the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless. To raise enthusiasm and get more donations, they turned it into a competition, offering a prize for the class that brought in the most items. During the three-week drive, students donated blankets, bottles, clothes, diapers, pacifiers, wipes and more.
Sixth grade student council members Giuliana Ferranti and Leia Laboy made a P.S. I Love You Day posterboard with about 200 sticky hearts. Set up near the lunchroom throughout the week, students could take a heart for themselves or to give to a friend. Each one had a simple message, such as “U Rock,” “U Shine” and “Ur Kind,” which Giuliana said was done to resemble the candy hearts that are popular for Valentine’s Day.
The student council is advised by teacher Stephanie Meehan with a mission of bettering the school and community through service projects.
Fifth grade classes also got into the spirit, traveling the building to give out kindness clips. Each student received three clothespins and wrote kind messages on each – one to give to a classmate, one to a teacher from the past who had an impact, and one to anyone else in the school of their choice.
Principal Danica Brugge said there was a lot of warmth in the school for P.S. I Love You Day and the goal is for students to take the message and continue spreading kindness year round, wherever they are.
“We want every child here to know how loved they are,” she said, “and inspire them to share that love with those around them.”
