A clip of a CBC St John’s pre-school class’s morning greeting ritual has gone viral, raking in nearly four million views on Facebook.
The 24-second video clip was shared on the school’s Facebook page three weeks ago and shows the Hedgehog class doing their morning greeting.
The school’s marketing manager, Felicia Nebel, explained how the morning greeting works:
“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 welcomed that day. That may be with a handshake, fist pump, high five or, the all time favourite, a hug.”
In the video, pupils line up to greet Wongani Mnthambala, the class greeter of the day, who stands at the classroom door.
As the children are not readers yet, they choose their choice of greeting from pictures of each greeting, which are pasted on the wall. “The greeter is chosen from the teacher’s class list and is informed the day before that it will be their turn the following day.
“Should a pupil feel that they do not want to be the greeter, they have the opportunity to decline. However, we find the children can’t wait for their turn to dish out hugs, high fives and fist pumps,” said Ms Nebel.
“We cannot believe how our video has been shared so many times online. At CBC St John’s we believe a positive morning greeting builds self esteem in our pupils as well as a positive school culture.
“The act helps build relationships between pupils and plays an important part in making the connection of learning for the rest of the day,” she said.
