A simple act of kindness

BY: Katie Peterson
Posted 1/25/17

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end,” Scott Adams.

A smile or a simple hello can change the day for another. To help students spread that simple joy, Rochelle Elementary School Distri

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A simple act of kindness

Posted

ROCHELLE –– “Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end,” Scott Adams.

A smile or a simple hello can change the day for another. To help students spread that simple joy, Rochelle Elementary School District is celebrating Kindness Week.
Along with dressing up to celebrate the week, students are encouraged to participate in random acts of kindness to help spread joy.
“The Great Kindness Challenge is a proactive and positive bullying prevention initiative that improves school climate and increases student engagement.  The Great Kindness Challenge is one week devoted to performing as many acts of kindness as possible.  Students will be provided with a list of kind acts that are to be accomplished at school.  The students are also encouraged to continue sharing their kindness at home, in the community, and in our world.  All students deserve to learn in a safe, supportive and dynamic environment.  Kindness is the strength and has the power to change the world for good,” explained Erin Strouss, Lincoln and May school counselor.
While the schools work year round to promote kindness and anti-bullying measures this week has a extra emphasis on the kindness challenge. The elementary schools have participated in the kindness challenge in past years, but never incorporated dress themes with the challenge.
“The Kindness Week Celebration is being conducted to encourage students to be kind to each other as a way to counteract bullying behaviors and to create a kind and welcoming climate at RMS,” explained Vicky Graff, RMS counselor.

Both middle school and elementary students have been challenged to perform as many acts of kindness this week as possible.
Great Kindness Challenge
The Great Kindness Challenge, founded in 2006, began as a neighborhood group of kids wanting to make the world a better place.
“At the heart of The Great Kindness Challenge is the simple belief that kindness is strength. We also believe that as an action is repeated, a habit is formed. With the Great Kindness Challenge checklist in hand, students have the opportunity to repeat kind act after kind act. As kindness becomes a habit, peace becomes possible,” reads the challenge website.
While the Great Kindness Challenge began with a small group of students, in 2016 over 8,000 schools participated in over 60 countries and over 250 million acts of kindness were spread during the week.
To help students and staff spread kindness, The Great Kindness Challenge presented by Kids for Peace, offered a checklist challenge individuals and classrooms to complete as many tasks as possible in one week. Tasks include saying “thank you,” smile at 25 people, make a new friend, offer to help your custodian, and showing appreciation for others.
While the dress up days are promoting school engagement, the kind acts challenge the brain and fosters greater learning both socially and in academics, explained Strouss.
At RMS the Builders Club covered the school in a post-it campaign and decorated each students locker with a post-it displaying a positive affirmation.
At all three schools announcements and quotes have been heard to remind the students and start their day on a kind note.
Dress-up themes have incorporated kindness each day as themes include “peace, love and kindness,” dreaming of kindness, powered by kindness, kindness knows no age, and kindness always wins.
While kindness week may end on Friday, Jan. 27 the lessons learned and messages spread will stick with the students for years to come. The emphasis on kindness and anti-bullying is prominent in the schools all year long.