CAPE TOWN - An adorable ‘morning greeting’ exercise between kids at CBC St John’s in Parklands recently went viral.
The clip posted to Facebook shows Wongani Mnthambala of the Hedgehog class taking his turn as the ‘class greeter’. A line of students can be seen waiting to choose their own way of greeting each other and it’s truly heartwarming.
Felicia Nebel, Marketing Manager at CBC St John’s in Parklands, said, “Each day a ‘class greeter’ is chosen and then it is their duty to greet each child as they enter our classroom in a way that they wish to be greeted that particular morning, whether that is with a handshake, fist pump, high five or the all-time favourite, a hug.” As the children aren’t yet readers, they instead use a system that incorporates pictures or a code that each greeting stands for.
At CBC St John’s they believe that an affirming morning greeting builds a positive classroom and school culture. “This method of daily greeting helps builds relationships between students and plays an important part in making the connection of learning for the rest of the day. Both parents and students are loving our greetings and are so excited to enter the classroom each morning, ” said Nebel.
The response from viewers has been overwhelmingly positive, Nebel said, “Due to the power of social media, we have been able to reach nearly 138 364 viewers from all corners of the globe. Milena Fernandes-Coetzee who is the teacher of the 4-5 year age group (the class in the video) is absolutely amazed at how the video has been shared so many times online. She says that it warms her heart that the video has brought so many smiles to those who have viewed it.”