Hartland Community School

Hartland Community School is more than just a drop in the bucket!

It was Carol McCloud’s book “Have you Filled a Bucket Today” and the Asset Building Coalition (ABC) that inspired hundreds of students of all ages at Hartland Community School to find a new way of supporting each other and getting along.

The book focuses on the analogy of a bucket; when you do something nice to someone, you’re filling that person’s bucket. Conversely, when you do something mean, you’re dipping into that person’s bucket.

The initiative was student-led. The students at Hartland Community School organized a number of activities to encourage students and staff to fill each others’ buckets, to work as a team, and to develop a sense of community. The initiatives were wide ranging in scope, from giving out slips of paper when someone filled a bucket andincluding ways buckets were being filled on the morning announcements, to a door-decorating competition where things that were said or done for someone were posted on a large bucket. Every student in the entire school learned a ‘Bucket Filler’ dance and performed it together in a massive dance presentation!!

The initiative has been a huge success. Improvements in morale have been seen across the school, and there is a new-found sense of community that spans all grades and social groups. Efforts will continue moving forward, with a new Committee of students that want to keep bucket filling going on in their school!