03/08/2023
Communication to Build Character and Confidence
What Should We Say?
Early County principals have given Kiwanis requests to support their schools and students. As a new civic organization in Early County, Kiwanis has begun work on their lists. One request made by Dr. Matthew Cullifer was to provide communication classes for fourth and fifth-grade students around key needs. Two classes were held on February 27 for some fourth and fifth-grade students with Kiwanis facilitators: Will Caudill, Sara Jane Sanders, Deborah McLendon, Jan Barron, and Alexandria Phillips, with additional support by Jeffery Hanes and Sada’ Harris. The communication classes answered the following questions suggested by Dr. Cullifer:
• How should we greet people?
• What do we need to know about phone etiquette?
• How should we ask for help in the grocery store, doctors’ offices, restaurants, other businesses, and from adults who can help?
• What do we need to know about table talk during meals?
Kiwanis representatives met with table groups of students who rotated into four groups to cover each topic. Role plays, old cell phones, foods students would most likely like and foods they would most likely not care for, grocery items, and general discussions were used to learn key points for each question.
To address how we greet others at home, the role plays and discussion included:
• How do we speak to each other when we get up in the mornings?
• How do we speak to family members when they have been gone and come in the door?
• What do we do if someone comes in when we are watching something on TV, on our phone, or a game?
• What is an example of a poor greeting at home? What is a good example? Role-play facial and eye expressions and body language.
• How should we greet others at school? Should I speak first if I meet someone in the hallway? What should I say? Do we look at them? Describe our facial and eye expressions and body language. What does an appropriate greeting sound like and look like if Mr. Cullifier comes over to talk to us?
• How should we greet receptionists at the doctor’s office, clerks in stores, and at the grocery store registers?
• What are examples of speaking our words clearly/distinctly so our words can be understood? What are examples of not greeting someone clearly/distinctly?
To teach cell phone etiquette, each student had an old cell phone which also brought about laughable conversations. Some of the questions discussed or role-played were:
• What do we need to know when making a call?
• What do we need to remember when answering a call?
• How do we call someone to the phone?
• What do we need to remember if the TV or music is on when we get a call?
• When is it too late to call? Why?
• What does calling late say about character/training?
• Where should phones be if you are eating with family or friends?
• When is it appropriate to text, and when would a call be wiser?
• What do we need to remember when talking to some older family members on the phone?
• What are some problems that happen with students and phones?
Training in asking for help in businesses, in restaurants, from officials, and in places that may be considered out of a student’s comfort zone, was a specific need Dr. Cullifer had observed. To give students confidence in asking for help that show respect, politeness, and positive character traits, words such as please, thank you, and may I, were role-played. Items from stores were used to help role-play asking for help to find what is needed. Will Caudill was able to show that officers are adults who care and want to help.
Table talk at meals at home and at school was also discussed. Students were served plates of snack foods students typically like and some foods they typically do not like. As students ate their snack, the following points were discussed and role-played:
• Using who, what, when, and where to start conversations with friends, family, and students who may be left out and need to be included in conversations.
• Balancing talking with listening.
• Talking levels at the table. (Level/code 1 in the cafeteria.)
• What is appropriate to say or not say when we don’t like certain food served?
• Talking or answering others when we have just taken a bite of food.
An enjoyable part of this communication rotation was hearing about students’ routines for dinner/supper, who would be around their tables, and generally what they liked about being with family at the table.
When students from elementary through college met with Kiwanis in December, their number one request was to have adults to talk to. Adults typically must be the ones who start the conversations and develop relationships with students as they get older. Kiwanis considered it a privilege to be involved in these conversations with students. Citizens of Early County are invited to visit a Kiwanis luncheon and planning meeting held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. The foundational purpose is to improve our community through the support of children and youth. Please email [email protected] or contact Alicia Moree, Brad Clenney, Bradley Crews, Brad Hughes, Deborah McLendon, Erica Harris-Henderson, or Kay Willis for more information.
