Kinder Kindness: Meadows Valley School Community Projects
“How much does kindness cost?” “Zero dollars!” Kindergarten teacher Katie Wright asked her class this question as they prepared for their community kindness project and they all responded enthusiastically.
The class brought hot chocolate, notes, and stickers to pass out for free to patrons arriving at Brown’s Mountain Market on Tuesday, January 14. Wright has been doing this project with classes for four years now. In addition to the treats, the class decorated 40 squares of paper that were taped together to form a beautiful poster with the phrase ‘Choose to be Kind.’
People arriving at the cocoa stand had a range of responses after being asked if they’d like a free cup of cocoa - surprise, shock, excitement, and happiness among them. Recipients were given cocoa, stickers, and a colored paper that says, “The world is a better place because you’re here”.
The students also stood on the sidewalk with their teacher to wave and show their signs to passersby. The signs were full of encouragement including sayings like “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” and “You are loved”.
Wright gave thanks to Brown’s Mountain Market for allowing them to use the space out front
In preparation for passing out cocoa, the class colored and put together their poster and spent time talking and learning about kindness. In meeting with the class, Oliver said some ways to be kind include “say hi, hug, walk and talk” and that people would be happy to get free cocoa “because if they try to give us money, we’ll say no and they’ll be happy. They don’t have to give us any money!” Oaklee said, “kind means you help people if they get hurt and give them hugs”. Scott said, “kindness is being nice” and that someone was nice to him by helping him pick up.
On Thursday, January 23 at the school’s celebration of learning night the students presented notes and pictures they colored and wrote as well as pictures from their free hot cocoa stand. Some of their notes included “kindness is helping my dad”, “kindness is helping people when they get hurt”, “helping friends with school”, and “helping my brother get his toys”. The class also surprised families attending the event with a song and poem. The students sang and played xylophones accompanied by music teacher Linda Kollman. The song lyrics say, “kindness is more than just being nice, it means doing good and self sacrifice / following always the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do to you.” What a good encouragement for us all to heed.
