Celebrating Another Year of Roots of Empathy
On June 18, Kids Can Fly was proud to celebrate another incredible year of the Roots of Empathy program with our annual Baby Celebration.
During the 2025–2026 school year, Kids Can Fly helped facilitate 14 Roots of Empathy programs in classrooms across the Grand Erie District School Board and the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board.
Thanks to the generosity of 13 dedicated mothers and 14 amazing babies—including one mother with twin baby girls who participated in two classrooms—hundreds of students experienced firsthand the power of empathy, compassion, and human connection.
Learning Through Connection
Throughout the school year, babies visited their classroom families once a month, giving students the opportunity to observe their growth and development while learning to recognize emotions, build healthy relationships, and understand the importance of caring for one another.
A Message from Cynthia Andrew
“Roots of Empathy turns the old cliché of ‘it takes a community to raise a child’ and turns it on its head. Roots of Empathy works on the assumption that it takes a baby to raise a community. Students observe the connection between mothers and their babies throughout the school year and learn that love grows brains, that communication begins before language, that all emotions are information, and that we are all the same AND all unique. Roots of Empathy data illustrates that the program reduces aggression and increases emotional literacy in children.”
— Cynthia Andrew, Kids Can Fly Board Member & Roots of Empathy Volunteer Instructor
Thank You
Our Baby Celebration was an opportunity to recognize the families who generously shared their babies with local students and to thank the instructors, educators, and school communities who made this year’s programs possible.
To every mom, baby, instructor, teacher, and school partner: thank you for helping nurture a generation of children who lead with kindness, understanding, and empathy. Together, you’re creating classrooms—and communities—where every child has the opportunity to grow with compassion.