LIMESTONE, Maine – Limestone and Caswell students joined forces Friday to promote kindness while taking part in a new outdoor tradition.
Nearly 200 students from both towns took part in a color run and team activities, including kickball, football and racquetball, at Limestone Community School.
Before the color run, Principal Ben Lothrop spoke to students on how they can be kind, think about how their words and actions affect others and forge healthy friendships. Students posed for photos with a banner that read “Too Cool to be a Bully.”
Limestone Recreation Director Corin Cooper organized the events with school social workers to help students learn those lessons but with more outdoor activities rather than many guest speakers.
“We wanted to do something educational but also fun,” Cooper said. “I hope they’ve learned to be kinder to each other and take those things with them their whole lives.”
During the color run, school staff members and volunteers threw cups of colored chalk onto students as they passed by each station. Children walked or ran in groups with a middle school student who served as their group leader.
Limestone eighth grader Natalie Rossignol used her time as a group leader to talk with younger students about how not to be a bully.
“An event like this can bring people together and teach kids how to be part of a team,” Rossignol said.
Jayce Peers, a fourth grader from Dawn F. Barnes Elementary School in Caswell, talked about what he learned about bullying.
“It’s not a good thing and you shouldn’t be mean,” Peers said. “[If you see bullying], you should tell a teacher. You can stand up for them but don’t start a fight.”
Cooper said that she and school staff hope to make the anti-bullying activities an annual event.
