It is never too early to instill habits of kindness in a person. That is why one of One Kind Act a Day’s signature programs is to tailor make Kindness Initiative’s with school leadership. We do this from every level from pre-school to postgraduate level and it is some of our most rewarding work. Kids and students are the best mentors, and they end up becoming OUR teachers in showing us just how kindness should be done.

Lets walk you through a broad view from one of our recent schools that not only did and initiative, but went above and beyond to qualify as a Certified School of Kindness, Bountiful Elementary. After sitting down with the school leadership we determined the goal was to instill greater kindness in students and teachers by celebrating kind acts and lighting the fire of service. To do this we organized a month-long effort with themed weeks.

The initial thought was, “The best way teachers can teach kindness to their students is to practice and model that behavior for themselves.” So, teachers were each given our signature Kindness Coins, and for two weeks before the Month of Kindness they were told to focus on stopping, recognizing, and celebrating the kind acts they all do for each other. This worked to increase employee connections and to highlight and enhance the kind acts that were already happening around the school. The students had no idea what was coming but got to see their teachers being kind to their peers.

On the morning of the student kickoff-assembly we peppered the school with signs, banners, and posters all to remind the students to do One Kind Act a Day. The teachers all got free t-shirts and wore them to the assembly when we finally explained the initiative to the students and challenged them to do 10,000 total acts of kindness!

In the first week we partnered with the school Social-Emotional Learning group with the theme “Sprinkle Kindness Everywhere”. Teachers were given paper “sprinkles” that they could give to kids and recognize their kindness. These sprinkles went on big paper donuts in the lunchroom and at the end of the week the grade with the most sprinkles got a Donut Party! It was a really close call when the paper donuts became less dough and more sprinkles as they were coated with dozens of kind acts. In the end this served to encourage students to do kind acts.

The second week was service oriented, where students were encouraged to share what they could for a local food bank from food, toiletries, to kind notes. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of opportunities for elementary aged kids to volunteer and formally serve. This was a great way to educate the kids about the life situations of others and help them feel like their acts of kindness were making a difference for someone else. It helped to get them out of their own heads and thinking about others. The students collected over 286 pounds of donation supplies!

The third week was an essay and art contest where students took their thoughts and recent experiences to inspire creative outlets for kindness. The stories were very tender and sweet while the art was fun and inspiring. Several students were chosen as winners and were able to display or read their work for the whole school. One of the most fun parts of this was when Bountiful hung up the art in the hallways in a colorful kindness collage.

The fourth week was partnered with the HOPE Squad, which is a Utah-based anti-suicide club. This prosocial group of kids did acts of service and worked as leaders to inspire the student body to keep kindness in the front of their minds.

Culminating these efforts was the closing assembly where the First Lady of Utah, Abby Cox, was warmly welcomed by the students. She shared her experiences as a child when a friend’s words of kindness made a difference to her, one that she carries to this day. Bountiful was accepted into our Communities of Kindness as a Certified School of Kindness.

Oh, and their goal of 10,000 acts of kindness? They got 11,341!!

Kindness doesn’t stop there, however. Two things are happening. First, we are in the process of initiating a Kindness Club at Bountiful where students will get the responsibility to carry kindness forward with service projects and a student-led kindness initiative. Second, in the new academic year Principal McDonough was transferred to a different school, where we are working with their awesome staff and PTA on another kindness initiative!

If you would like to learn more or think your school would be a good place for a kindness initiative please apply to be a partner.