The President of Iceland visits Hraunvallaskóli

Warmth and friendliness greeted the president

“The most important thing is to dare to be yourself,” said the President of Iceland, Halla Tómasdóttir, to the children in the auditorium when she visited Hraunvallaskóli at Vellir, Hafnarfjörður. The third grade greeted Halla in the school’s lobby. She greeted them with a heart-hand-sign and offered the group a hug.

The children were well dressed, as they had postponed the entertainment of Iceland´s Independence Day (December the 1st) and were therefore in their best suits when the president arrived.

Visited the school and met the students

School administrators and representatives of the 10th grade led Halla around the school. She met the children of many classes and walked the corridors, received a gift from the 2nd grade. Then she sat down on a panel with the students in the school auditorium, answered their questions and encouraged the children to watch their words, especially on social media. They can have a great impact.

Halla Tómasdóttir has encouraged young people as well as others to become knights of love and kindness, the children at Hraunvallaskóli accepted her challenge. It looks at the mental well-being of young people in today’s society to honour the memory of Bryndís Klara, who died as a result of a knife attack, by making love and kindness the only weapons in Icelandic society. The project was worked on during the school’s Friendship Week and the president was then invited to see the results, which she happily accepted.

The President signs a friendship treaty

The students told Halla, among other things, about their friendship treaty, which she also signed.

“With our signature, we, the students and staff of Hraunvallaskóli, agree to the following friendship treaty:

We are committed to showing respect and friendship to everyone, ALWAYS!

We never use physical or emotional abuse.

We look out for each other and that no one is excluded.

We help those who are harassed and bullied.

Let us not stand idly by.

We help to make everyone feel good because that is everyone’s right.

We are going to do our part to ensure that our society is kind

and respectful in all interactions.

We say NO to bullying, Yes to friendship!”

Proud of the students

Guðbjörg Norðfjörð Elíasdóttir, principal of Hraunvallaskóli, says that the school’s students work on the friendship treaty every year, but now it has been decided to associate it with knights of love and kindness.

“The children and we staff are very pleased with the president’s visit. The kids performed like heroes. It was beautiful how willing they were to participate in the project and how cool they were. It was as if they had done nothing else. They are wonderful children, it is a privilege to be among them,” she says.

“We were stunned after the visit. We are so proud of our group here at Hraunvallaskóli. Everyone did their very best. The students were fantastic.”