Flower Hill Primary School art teacher Jackie Plesent had an idea based on the “Kindness Tree,” a book penned by author Sharon Becker. The energetic educator put the idea into action and the results are impressive.
“The ‘Kindness Tree’ is a book about a parrot named Rosie,” Ms. Plesent explained. “She performed many acts of kindness to help all the other animal friends in the rain forest. In doing so, the tree that was always bare, magically bloomed with flowers and leaves.”
The book is popular with elementary school age children. It helps students understand the value of acts of kindness. “The animals build friendships and experienced the good feelings that come with showing kindness,” Ms. Plesent said.
To help drive home some important points, Ms. Plesent had her art students design their own leaf for a Flower Hill kindness tree as a collaborative piece of art. “In doing so they are going to participate in a random act of kindness may it be in school or at home,” she said. “The students loved it and it is helping with the continued success of our kindness initiative.”
Flower Hill is currently collecting bottle caps for a recycled mural project. “It is based on a more permanent kindness tree,” Ms. Plesent said. “We have an art contest to get the students more involved about what their kindness tree would look like and we are going to base the mural on the drawings. The student council at Flower Hill will be helping with that.”
A graduate of Half Hollow Hills East High School, Ms. Plesent obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at LIU Post. She taught third grade at Transfiguration School in Freeport while simultaneously taking graduate classes in art therapy at Hofstra University. While doing so she had an opportunity to work with children at South Oaks Hospital.
