(NewsNation) — The pressures of school can be a lot for students to handle, but one elementary school principal in Pennsylvania is looking to change that, one high-five at a time.
Zac Bauermaster, the principal at Providence Elementary School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has gone viral for videos he’s posted on social media where he greets each student in the school’s hallways with a high-five or a fist bump. Bauermaster said those small interactions have a lasting impact on kids.
“I think it’s important to feel connected to and build a connection with the kids,” Bauermaster told NewsNation. “I look to give these students my very best every day.”
Bauermaster added that the school’s guidance counselor held a survey with all 400 children at the school to ask whether they had an adult in their lives with whom they feel connected to. All 400 children said yes.
“The work we do in education is all about people,” Bauermaster said, also saying that the positive student interactions have also created a domino effect with the teachers at the school.
He said at least two teachers at the school have told him that making the connections with their students has given them a new purpose and motivates them to give their best.
Bauermaster’s advice to other schools is that it’s important to build trust not only with the students, but also with families.
“Kids come to school with bricks in backpacks,” Bauermaster said. “There’s a lot of trauma, divorce, broken homes, not having enough food or a place to sleep, and we’re trying to unpack those bricks so that they can move forward and learn and reach their full potential.”
“I encourage schools to work closely with families, because the school often becomes a hub for creating and providing opportunities.”