Students work with network school to spread acts of kindness globally
Middle School students in Barcelona and the Spanish IV Honors students present their kindness projects.
Students in the Spanish IV Honors class participated in a joint project with Sagrat Cor de Sarrià, a Sacred Heart network school in Barcelona, Spain in an effort to live Goal Four of Sacred Heart Greenwich’s Goals and Criteria, the building of a community as a Christian value. Mrs. Montserrat Garcia, Upper School World Language Teacher and Network Exchange Coordinator, facilitated this project, titled Difundir Amabilidad (Spread Kindness), with Ms. Cristina Martínez, Ms. Diana Mortera, and Ms. Inma Plaza from Sagrat Cor de Sarrià, giving students at both schools the opportunity to display generosity and compassion within their communities.
The requirements for the project consisted of each student completing a total of six acts of kindness over the span of two weeks. Three of the actions had to be related to helping the environment, and the other three were acts of kindness towards others. The Sacred Heart students then submitted pictures of their deeds to a Padlet, an online notice board, and commented on their classmates’ posts, practicing the subjunctive tense in Spanish.
Mrs. Garcia explained how this project incorporated the building of community into the standard grammar lessons for the Spanish IV Honors curriculum.
“The project expanded our classroom to the outside world,” Mrs. Garcia said. “Students were able to incorporate Spanish into their everyday life with a social purpose. Through Padlet, peers comment on each other’s posts, discovering how each girl was expanding kindness, and it was a big community-building experience for our class.”
Even during the coronavirus pandemic, with technological advancements, students at both schools were able to expand their knowledge and foster a stronger sense of community in both Greenwich and Barcelona. The students in Barcelona practiced their English by presenting over Zoom to their classmates and the Spanish IV Honors class about the acts of kindness that they completed. Each student presented one PowerPoint slide on either how they helped the people around them or the environment. Despite the six-hour time difference, students from both schools were able to present their projects and compare their deeds. Some of the commonly completed deeds included helping others with homework and reusing plastic water bottles.
Sophomore Charlotte Gannon participated in the Zoom call with the students in Barcelona February 5. She described the benefits of becoming aware about environmental issues and the difference that acts of kindness can make.
“I learned about how making simple acts of kindness to the environment and others makes a big impact,” Charlotte said. “I was able to act on goal three, which is a social awareness which impels to action, even during COVID-19 times and connect with other Sacred Heart schools to do the same. This project was very interesting to me because I learned about my classmates’ actions and learned about how the middle school students in Barcelona helped the environment and others. One action that stood out to me was a student who used a web browser that planted a tree every time it was used. She explained how she shared it with her family and friends and educated others to help create change. She not only educated her classmates in Barcelona, but also the community in Sacred Heart Greenwich.”
Mrs. Garcia highlighted how this opportunity to work with Sagrat Cor de Sarrià was especially beneficial during a time when students cannot physically visit other Sacred Heart schools.
“When the teachers from Barcelona reached out to me, I said yes right away,” Mrs. Garcia said. “I didn’t want to pass on the opportunity to connect with another Sacred Heart School, especially in the current times. We are so confined and limited in our ability to physically travel, that bringing this project to my students opens our classroom to another Sacred Heart school across the globe.”
Despite cultural differences, the Sacred Heart Greenwich students were able to relate to and connect with the students in Barcelona. Mrs. Garcia felt that this project benefited her students by allowing them to practice their skills beyond a classroom setting.
“Students from my class learned about cultural practices from another Sacred Heart school and realized they have many things in common, all of which empowered my students as they make the language alive in a real setting,” Mrs. Garcia said.
Featured Image by Caterina Pye ’23
After two years of writing and editing for the King Street Chronicle, Caterina is extremely excited to return for her final year as the Managing Editor,...