Throughout this year #kindkids will be offering opportunities for our students to go beyond themselves – for example, participating in October's "Socktober" to collect socks for the homeless, writing letters to veterans for Veteran’s Day and holding a donation drive for winter gear to help people in our own community who may not have proper outerwear.
The first endeavor was a school wide bucket-filling project. Thanks to the generosity of the Highland Drive PSO, each classroom was given a copy of the book “How Full Is Your Bucket For Kids” by Tom Rath, along with red buckets for each student, posters, banners and other mini-incentives, such as pencils, bookmarks and kindness coins. Students are filling each other’s buckets with kind notes and pictures and incorporating it into their daily classroom routines! Teachers are noticing increased kindness amongst students - just as hoped.
On Friday, September 9th, Ricky Smith, Cleveland native and founder of the worldwide "Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere" (or #RAKE) came to Highland Drive to share his secrets for spreading kindness and how his one little act of kindness - a $5 pizza shared with the homeless and a simple tweet- sparked a movement that is now going on its 3rd year. He now motivates thousands of people to get out and do one kind act a day that brings kindness to someone else's day.
Rick Smith at Highand Assembly