One Kind Act a Day is building communities of kindness, and we want you to join us. We are happy to just engage with your school in spreading messages of kindness, but we would love to work towards awarding you as a “Certified School of Kindness”.

Below is a list of steps and requirements for earning this prestigious honor. Upon completion we will set a date to visit the school, bestow a beautifully framed award, engage with the press and community leaders, and give you a large pennant style banner to hang in the school. We welcome you to join us in creating kinder communities.

Required:

• Planning: Efforts working with OKAAD to create a tailor-made initiative utilizing OKAAD resources and current school objectives to spread kindness
• Participation
  • 50% participation of teachers in pre and post surveys
  • 50% staff signing up to take our Pledge of Kindness
• Community Outreach: Placement of signs and/or banners around the outside of the school
• Consistency: The educational institution needs to demonstrate a consistent pattern of kindness over time with demonstrated and visible acts of kindness in the school. This could include helping classmates, being inclusive, showing empathy, standing against bullying, or performing community service.
• Liaison Appointment: please appoint someone at the school who is willing and able to be a liaison with One Kind Act a Day

This initiative cannot succeed with just one person pushing it forward. While we ask for one specific liaison this will require many kindness champions to make a true and lasting impact.
 
Optional: please complete a minimum of four items

• Kick-Off Assembly
  • A great way to inform the student body and get everyone excited is with a kick-off assembly. One Kind Act a Day would be happy to assist in this assembly and presentation
• Set a Goal and Count the Kindness
  • The school could set a number goal for the number of kind acts you wish to see. Some schools have done this by multiplying the number of days in the initiative by the number of students and staff, or just setting a number you think is achievable but stretching still. These acts can be counted in many ways, and the school can work towards reaching this goal.
• Written Essay Competition 
  • Students could write an essay to explain their commitment to kindness, the impact they have made, and their future plans for continuing to promote kindness.
    • One Kind Act a Day would be happy to participate as impartial judges
• Video Essay Competition
  • If any of your students are inclined towards video creation, they could create a video interview or video essay about their experience with kindness.
• Kindness Art 
  • This can be done competitively or just for fun where students and/or teachers create art inspired by kindness and the efforts that have been made in the school. It is very rewarding to hang them up around the school and display these colorful messages.
• Recognition:
  • Awards may be given to individuals or groups who have had a positive and significant impact on the school or community through their kindness.
  • Candidates for a kindness award may be nominated by teachers, students, or other members of the school community. These nominations may be accompanied by specific examples of kindness.
  • Kindness awards may consider a person’s character and integrity. This includes honesty, respect, and overall ethical behavior.
• Student Pledge
  • Kids under the age of 13 can make a verbal pledge (can be tailored by the school or use a standard one from One Kind Act a Day) to commit to kindness and then can visualize this promise by signing a poster or hanging their name up somewhere (like a paper piece of fruit on a kindness tree)
  • Kids over the age of 13 can take our online Kindness Pledge and become part of our Kindness Community where they will receive email and text prompts. Encouraging students to do this would be a great way to have kindness continue even after the initiative is over.
• Parental Engagement
  • Efforts made to engage parents in kindness planning, activities, or outreach. Through an information night, letters sent home, activities kids can do with their families and more.
• Charitable Efforts
  • One Kind Act a Day doesn’t accept funding and doesn’t want to require service projects. However, when a service component fits with the school’s program it has been very successful to support other deserving charities.
  • These charitable efforts can be done in a number of ways. In the past we have seen:
    • Food Drives (kids donate food, hygiene items, or kind written notes)
    • Packing kits for homeless individuals
    • Fundraisers for vetted charities
    • Charity Selections and donations from OKAAD on behalf of the school or a student
      • We have collected videos from partner charities that can be shown to a class or assembly. Kids can debate/vote on which one they want to send a charitable donation
      • A reward that kids receive for being the kindest kid or winning a contest (essay, art, etc) is to have a donation made to a charity of their choice.
• Book Club
  • Kids can read a discuss a book centered around kindness. There are many good books that you may be aware of. If more ideas are needed One Kind Act a Day works to curate a collection of books on GoodReads
• Kindness Club 
  • Students can join Team Kindness and start a kindness club or integrate it with a similar existing club the school offers. Peer leaders to carry kindness on is one great way to create sustainable programming and it can often fit in programs that already exist or would easily fit in the school culture.
• Pass Kindness Along
  • The school could challenge another school to take on the kindness certification process and get them connected in discussions with One Kind Act a Day.

Please, have fun! Kindness is an initiative which should develop feelings of goodwill throughout the community.  The most important byproduct of kindness is simply kindness.