What does respect mean to you? That was one of many questions that played a part in Cherry Hill West’s Week of Respect, in which students participated in activities centered around respect. Students from all grades had the opportunity to spread words of respect around the school. And through kind gestures such as positive messages or creative works, students expressed themes of respect surrounding themselves and other classmates.

The first day of the Week of Respect was October 6th, in which students from all 4 grades gathered after school to write respect week themes and positive messages! They did so using chalk and other drawing materials to write these messages on the sidewalk near the school’s main entrance and several windows in the building.

On October 7th, the second day, students shared what respect means to them by writing it down on sticky notes. And whether its “meaning” came from a personally respectful act or by simply defining the word respect, their heartfelt “notes of respect” reflected their opinions on respect and how it influences themselves and others. In addition to posting these notes onto a bulletin board outside the cafeteria, they pledged to ensure that West is No Place For Hate by signing the “No Place For Hate” banner on the Respect Week table!

Students returned to the respect week table the next day, October 8th, to pick out some “respect swag.” This included pencils, pins, and stickers conveying positive messages on them! These trinkets of respect were for students to give to their friends or classmates who showed respect. Through this small gesture, they made a big impact!

October 9th was the day on which the “You Got Pinned!” activity of the week took place. This activity involved students writing kind and encouraging messages on clothespins. Students then clipped their clothespins onto the back of their friends’ and classmates’ backpacks, jackets, or sleeves.

And to close off the week on October 10th, two notes of respect from October 7th were picked from the bulletin board. The students who wrote the two notes were each rewarded a $25 gift card to multiple retail stores, and the title of “respect week winners.”

All in all, the Week of Respect was not a simple teaching of what it means to be respectful. It was an event that encouraged acts of respect in grades across Cherry Hill West. Furthermore, those acts reflect the 4 Pillars of our school and what it truly means to be a Lion: Kindness, Diversity, Integrity, and most of all, Respect.