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Start With Hello Week

Start with Hello Week 2025

 

September 15, 2025

DAILY ACTIVITIES

daily activities monday through friday

A NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION WEEK DEDICATED TO HELPING STUDENTS MAKE NEW SOCIAL CONNECTIONS & CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING

START WITH HELLO

 

See someone alone. Reach out and help. Start with hello.

Hello image, what's up. hola. start with hello

Start with hello. Hello is written in multiple languages.

WHAT IS START WITH HELLO WEEK?

 

This evidence-informed program includes flexible options and a developmentally appropriate curriculum.

Start With Hello helps create a culture of kindness and belonging. 

Step 1, 2, 3: See someone alone, reach out and help, start with hello

“... social isolation is a very real epidemic. It can cause kids to pull away and, in serious situations, even hurt themselves or others.”
 
students where green start with hello shirts  

Start With Hello is a simple program for students of all ages.

The goal is to teach empathy and empower students to end social isolation
Start with hello week rainbow Schools can promote during September and continue messaging throughout the year.
three students with green accessories The program includes an interactive storybooks, videos, activities and projects with lesson plans based on social-emotional learning to help students build empathy, healthy relationships, and social awareness.
cartoon images for start with hello Activities offer strategies to help students learn how to recognize loneliness and grow an empathetic and inclusive community.

 

empowering students to end social isoloation

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

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(EMPLOYEE LINK FOR INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES)

  • CASEL 5 Competencies and Transformative Social-Emotional Learning (tSEL) Focal Constructs 

    Each lesson plan aligns with at least one of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) competencies (the CASEL 5) and tSEL Focal Constructs: 

    • Identity and Self-Awareness 
    • Agency and Self-Management 
    • Belonging and Social Awareness 
    • Collaborative Problem-Solving and Relationship Skills 
    • Curiosity and Responsible Decision-Making 

    Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards 

    Most lesson plans also align with a Learning for Justice Social Justice Standard. The standards are divided into four domains—identity, diversity, justice, and action—and are designed to promote anti-bias education. An example of a standard applied to Start With Hello program lessons is the Diversity Anchor, Standard 9. It says: Students will respond to diversity by building empathy, respect, understanding, and connection. For example, students explore how dignity and respect play a role in reaching out to classmates who are being excluded or left out of social activities at school.

    Curriculum Alignment to a Trauma-Informed Approach 

    The curriculum is trauma-informed in its approach and aligns with each of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) six principles: (1) Safety, (2) Trustworthiness and Transparency, (3) Peer Support, (4) Collaboration and Mutuality, (5) Empowerment, Voice, and Choice, and (6) Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues. Violence prevention work requires an investment in understanding trauma, as it is experienced uniquely and to various degrees by diverse individuals and communities. 

    Principle 1: Safety 

    According to this principle, schools seek to understand safety from the perspective of the students, families, and communities they serve. Essential objectives for this principle are for staff and students to: 

    Feel physically and psychologically safe. 

    Develop healthy interpersonal interactions. 

    Principle 2: Trustworthiness and Transparency 

    According to this principle, schools seek to build and maintain trust among students, families, and communities. Essential objectives for this principle are for staff and students to: 

    Build and maintain trust. 

    Be transparent, open, and honest. 

    Be real. 

    Principle 3: Peer Support 

    According to this principle, individuals and communities come together with shared experiences of trauma. Space and infrastructure are built for individuals with shared traumatic experiences to congregate and process feelings. Essential objectives for this principle are for staff and students to: 

    Seek and gain support from other individuals who have similar lived experiences with trauma. 

    Create safe spaces where children and youth can discuss trauma and share traumatic experiences and events at the school and community levels. 

    Principle 4: Collaboration and Mutuality 

    According to this principle, the whole community understands that everyone plays a role in a trauma-informed approach. In a school setting, this involves students and all staff members who are Trusted Adults. Essential objectives for this principle are for staff and students to: 

    Heal with your community. Build an understanding that healing happens in relationships. 

    Share power. Power differentials and hierarchies are leveled in classrooms and SAVE Promise Clubs. 

    Engage in collaborative decision-making. Important decision makers—students and staff alike—are integral to the decision-making process. 

    Principle 5: Empowerment, Voice, and Choice 

    According to this principle, individual student and Trusted Adult strengths are built on agency, and students are empowered to use it. Essential objectives for this principle are for staff and students to: 

    Cultivate self-advocacy skills. 

    Constructively use voice for self and community advocacy. 

    Foster empowerment. 

    Provide avenues for staff to become “facilitators of recovery.” 

    Principle 6: Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues 

    According to this principle, schools actively move toward building an inclusive and anti-racist community. Essential objectives for this principle are for staff and students to: 

    Move past cultural stereotypes and biases. 

    Underscore the healing power of cultural traditions. 

    Develop cultural competency. 

     

  • Start With Hello: Unit Essential Questions

    Throught all units, students continually explore their understanding, solutions, and meaning-making of the following driving questions: 

    (1) In what ways can we empower Upstanders in our school community? 

    (2) How can we work collectively to build safe, inclusive classrooms and school communities? 

    Additionally, each curriculum unit is centered on a developmentally appropriate essential question.

    Below is a list of the essential questions. 

     

      K-3 4-5 6-8
    BELONGING How can we use our agency to create a safe space by including others and creating a community of belonging?  How can I make a big difference and include others? What can we do to manage conflicts and create a safer space for learning and exploring?
    IDENTITY What special qualities do I possess that make me who I am today?  How do you express your individuality and identity? How have I analyzed and discovered awareness of my strengths, values, and identity along with the unique identities of others?
    EMPATHY There’s a recipe for respect; how can we use it to expand our empathy powers? What can happen if everyone shares and expresses a little more empathy in our school?  How can we create a culture of empathy and healing at our school? 
    AGNECY What are the many ways I can be a helper and a school leader? When you want something to change in your school or community, what can you do? 

    How can I positively impact my community? 

    How can I ignite social activism to combat social isolation and loneliness? 

     
    WARNNG SIGNS Can I notice a warning sign?  What is the difference between healthy alone time and isolation, and when are the times to reach out and connect with others?  How can I actively prevent and combat loneliness and social isolation within myself and my peers?