[:en]Olive Elementary Collects 912 Pairs of Shoes for Children in Africa
On Thursday, September 8, kindness was contagious at Olive Elementary after youth motivational speaker, Brian Williams from Think Kindness, kicked off a 15-day kindness challenge and shoe drive where over 912 pairs of shoes were collected. Think Kindness is a non-profit organization that inspires measurable acts of Kindness in schools and communities around the world.
The energetic assembly and the 15-day call-to-action campaign thrilled the minds of students as they listened to anecdotal stories about what it means to be kind. Brian talked about the impact of kindness on a local level as well as a global scale. At one point, Brian asked the students to stand up, turn to their teacher and say, “You are beautiful,” noting immediate “banana smiles” across their faces, reinforcing the message that a simple compliment can make a big difference. Brian’s enthusiasm and energy helped students discover that positive change starts with them and that no act of kindness is too small.
The assembly was followed by a 15-day Kindness Challenge wherein students were asked to document their random acts of kindness at school, at home and in their community to show how generous and kind Olive students can be and how much they can accomplish together. These acts could be anything from carrying library books for a friend to helping a sibling with homework. Students went going out of their way to be kind and documented more than 2,670 acts of kindness.
The second part of the Kindness Challenge involved a school-wide shoe drive where Olive students collected gently used shoes to be sent to children in Africa who need shoes in order to attend school.
“This is a great opportunity to positively impact the culture of our school,” says Karin Katselis, PTA President and Kindness Crew Co-Advisor. She added, “Olive students are kind. This really brought out the best in everyone.” Staff, students and teachers have recognized the positive impact that the Kindness campaign brought to Olive. “The Kindness Crew Campaign inspires kids to take action with the purpose of helping others,” states Mrs. Rozoff, 5th grade teacher. “I believe it supports the development of empathy in children. Their ability to see and value what another person is feeling or experiencing is the first step towards the path of social justice in our society. The Kindness Crew provides a structure for kids to be the change we all wish to see in the world.”
So what’s next? Olive has selected a group of 16 students to be part of the “Kindness Crew.” This is a leadership opportunity for students who want to keep the momentum going. Each month the Kindness Crew will announce a creative Kindness Challenge to their entire student body that will engage every student. In addition, each Kindness Crew will also be linked with other Kindness Crew’s around the United States to exchange strategies, ideas and best practices for what’s working in their school.
and stories of what worked well in their school
For more information on the organization please visit Thinkkindness.org. [:]