Madeira Beach School Named National Sandy Hook Promise Winner

MADEIRA BEACH, FL -- Madeira Beach Fundamental K-8 School will receive the Sandy Hook Promise Start with Hello Grand Prize Award for preventing social isolation.

On Monday, Feb. 4, representatives from Sandy Hook Promise will visit Madeira Beach Fundamental School to present students with the award. The students will be recognized for their outstanding efforts to creatively integrate and implement the core values of Sandy Hook Promise’s Start with Hello program among its student body and overall community.

The award will be celebrated during schoolwide assemblies beginning at 12:50 p.m.

Start with Hello is an easy-to-implement program that empowers students to create an inclusive and connected community by reaching out to those who may be chronically isolated, marginalized or rejected and let them know that they are valued.

Pinellas County Schools participated in Start with Hello week Sept. 24-28. The school district began its no-cost partnership with Sandy Hook Promise in early 2018.

The nationwide nonprofit program was started two years ago by several family members of loved ones killed in the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

The intent, said Nicole Hockley, co-founder and managing director, is to honor victims of gun violence by "turning tragedy into a moment of transformation."

The Sandy Hook Promise Foundation promotes programs and practices that protect children from gun violence.

"Since my son, Dylan, was murdered in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School six years ago, I have made it my life’s mission to protect other families from experiencing the excruciating pain that I endure every day as a result of his preventable death," said Hockley.

The recently established Federal Commission on School Safety recommended a number of preventative measures such as creating a school culture of inclusion, monitoring social media as a source for threats, implementing anonymous reporting systems paired with training for students and educators, and establishing multidisciplinary threat assessment teams in schools.

The Sandy Hook Promise Start With Hello program was among the preventative programs the commission singled out.

At Madeira Beach Fundamental School, students sporting "Start With Hello" shirts participated in discussions and activities designed to create understanding among students.

Principal Chris Ateek said the school strives to make kindness and inclusiveness a part of its daily curriculum.

“That’s our intent, to try and lift them up every day,” says Ateek. “School might be the best place kids have in their lives. You don’t always know where they’re coming from.”

Offered to schools throughout the country, the free program trains student ambassadors to identify and engage marginalized students. The message is reinforced in school-wide assemblies and events.

Video via Sandy Hook Promise