Start With Hello Week: The Challenge Doesn't End at School

Students may be enjoying a long weekend today, but there is still one more Start With Hello Week challenge to complete.

Friday marks Know Your Classmates Day, the final theme of Sandy Hook Promise's 2026 Start With Hello Week. The challenge is simple: get to know the people around you a little better.

Throughout the week, students across Harnett County Schools have been encouraged to make new connections, recognize Upstanders, wear green and identify the Trusted Adults they can turn to when they need help.

Today, we're taking that challenge beyond the classroom.

Even though students aren't at school today, there are plenty of opportunities to put the lessons of Start With Hello Week into action.

Before you return to school Monday, we challenge you to make one connection.

Call or text a classmate you haven't talked with lately. Invite someone to join you for a game. Say hello to another kid at the park, ball field or community event. Check on a friend who has seemed a little quieter than usual. Or simply send someone a message letting them know you were thinking about them.

Then, when you return to school Monday, keep it going.

Sit beside someone new at lunch. Learn something about a classmate you don't know well. Ask someone about their weekend. Invite another student to join your group. If you notice someone sitting alone, remember what you've learned this week and reach out.

It doesn't have to be a big gesture.

Sometimes it starts with one word: Hello.

Start With Hello Week may be coming to an end, but its message isn't meant to disappear when the week is over.

Sandy Hook Promise's Start With Hello program teaches students to recognize social isolation, reach out to others and build stronger connections with their peers. Those connections can help create school communities where students feel seen, included and supported.

That's something we can practice every day.

So enjoy the long weekend, HCS!

And before Monday morning, see if you can make someone's day a little brighter.

Notice. Reach out. Include. Belong.

Then bring that spirit back to school with you Monday.