The Great Kindness Challenge 2019
The week of January 22-25, 2019 marked The Great Kindness Challenge 2019 with Tuckahoe Middle School students participating in activities to promote and model kindness. Hosted by the TMS Diversity Club, the program is part of a nationwide effort through the non-profit Kids for Peace that challenges students to complete a checklist of 50 kind acts designed around the themes of kindness, compassion, respect and unity.
To start the week, each middle school student’s locker had a Kindness Locker Challenge posted on it. Challenges included “invite someone to join you at recess,” “say Good Morning to 5 people,” “Help a Younger Student” in an effort to engage students in acts of kindness and gestures of inclusion.
During the week, Middle School students also had the opportunity to stop by the Kindness Station during lunch to create posters that will be displayed throughout the building. Students collaborated to create original slogans and reflect on how kindness impacts lives by completing sentence starters such as My favorite act of kindness is…, A classmate helped me with…, Kindness is…, I felt happy when…, The Great Kindness Challenge changed me by…. They also used art supplies to write thoughtful notes to their teachers and friends.
At the end of the week, Middle School students completed The Great Kindness Challenge Reflection in class. This culminating activity encouraged students to reflect on their activities during the week as well as the meaning of kindness. Tuckahoe Middle School students completed over 140 acts of kindness throughout the week.