School is a place where leaders learn and grow. Our sole focus as educators cannot only be on academics. Teaching students to be good to other people is a necessary social skill that they will be able to take with them into higher education, the workplace, in public with strangers, or in private with family and friends.

Our staff was excited to participate in the Kindness Challenge because our ultimate goal is to educate students in an atmosphere that fosters safety, love, and support. When students and staff make kindness the norm, it is easier to create an environment like that. 

We tried to create challenges that were fun for the students. The first challenge focused on students doing random acts of kindness for each other. We created a bulletin board where students could get ideas of ways to be kind to each other, as well as display their kind actions.

“As teachers, we are responsible for being an example for students, and I think the Kindness Challenge reminded us of that.” – Mr. Moultire, art teacher

The second challenge focused on serving and being kind to their community. We wanted to make care packages for the homeless, so we required each grade level to bring in different items and the winning grade level earned a donut breakfast!

But during the competition, tornadoes struck our area, affecting many students we serve here at Hairston. The storms hit before we were able to create the care packages, so students and their families were able to gather items they needed from the collection on a day when the school came together to serve lunch to our students in need. We were so proud to see students step up and be kind when it really mattered.

If we want to create students who are ready to take on life outside of school, kindness is a vital skill they should know. All schools should be teaching and fostering an environment where kindness is the standard.