Have you ever thrown kindness around like confetti? I highly recommend it. Spreading kindness definitely radiates joy when it is freely shared. And it is truly a joy to celebrate the virtue of kindness in a school community.

This is my third article about my experience establishing a kindness initiative at my school. I will highlight three ways to celebrate kindness. Let’s get this party started!

Kindness Ambassadors bring lots of laughter to the celebration of kindness. Last year was my first year leading a group of fifteen eighth graders who are affectionately known as the legendary Kindness Ambassadors. Their goal was to inspire kindness throughout the school.

Friday Fun Messages are one way they worked toward their goal. Since health protocols did not allow students to mix in different grade levels last year, the ambassadors created weekly videos to share messages with the school. In the messages, students chose Bible verses about kindness and shared heartfelt reflections. They also led the students in prayer and always ended the message with a couple of jokes. During the season of Advent, the ambassadors created daily messages that I put together in a Google Slides presentation as a digital Advent calendar. Every message included Advent Acts of Kindness for all the students to participate in to prepare their hearts for Christmas.

The ambassadors strived to be role models for the school community as they volunteered throughout the school year. They enjoyed random acts of kindness such as passing out green necklaces on St. Patrick’s Day for middle school students and hiding plastic Easter eggs for the kindergarten students. Helping out with the red Ribbon Week festivities and Operation Christmas Child are some of the many ways they inspired kindness. I am extremely proud of their efforts.

Kindness Ambassadors are the perfect leaders for a school Kindness Rally. Rallies are already tons of fun for students, but when kindness is thrown into the mix, there could be smiles for miles. Hopefully, health protocols will allow assemblies to take place once again, and students can gather to listen to the ambassadors talk about why they believe in kindness and why it is important to our school. After that, everyone present can take part in a Kindness Pledge. Here is a pledge that I wrote:

Be the light! Be, be the light! This was a very popular cheer at the kindness rally that I led at our school a couple of years ago. Students of all ages enjoyed raising the roof with these happy words. Students could also be led in a cheer competition with each other by chanting, We’ve got kindness, yes we do! We’ve got kindness, how ‘bout you?

Kind Knight Nominations are another highlight of my school Kindness Rallies. The name of the award matches our school mascot, but the title could easily be changed. Several weeks before the rally, students were given the opportunity to nominate other students to be recognized for their kindness. The form that I created for my students included space to name the students they wished to nominate and to explain why they were chosen. At the assembly, nominations from every grade level were randomly chosen and read for all to appreciate. It was quite an honor for students to be recognized by their peers and they were also given a free dress pass.

Why not extend the celebration of kindness to your school families? Family Kindness Knights are an exciting way to invite everyone to join in the fun. I created this event so that the entire school community could come together for a memorable experience of fun and fellowship. We went all out for the purpose of kindness by sharing dinner and dessert, painting kindness tiles, and participating in S.T.R.E.A.M. (science, technology, religion, art, math) activities. Did I forget to mention that there was also a D.J.? Next time we have this event, I hope to include kindness to the community by adding a non-perishable food collection for those in need.

Creating a kindness mural was definitely a memorable way to showcase the importance of kindness at our school. At the event, students, parents, faculty, and staff painted kindness tiles that were professionally installed in our school lunch area. I provided guidelines for designing the tiles so that they included kind messages, Bible verses, and inspiring artwork.

If you already have a family science night or a S.T.R.E.A.M. event at your school, why not include opportunities for kindness in your planning? For example, we had a Chia Pet making station complete with googly eyes for decorating cups of soil with a smiley face. After all, it is good to be kind to living things and to help them to grow.

Here is an example of the passport for participating in the activities. It was made by an amazing teacher named Colleen, who dressed up as a mad scientist complete with dry ice in a beaker and spoke about the scientific research on the positive impact of acts of kindness.

It was definitely kind of our teachers to volunteer to have a booth with a fun activity for families to enjoy on a Friday evening. It was also kind of our middle school students to volunteer to facilitate the activities. Additionally, there were kind administrators who supervised the tile painting and visited with families. Last, but not least, it was very kind of the parents who volunteered to help with the check in process and the passing out of tiles. I can’t wait to have another event like this again because it was full of joy!

I hope that my sharing about the Kindness Ambassadors, Kindness Rallies, and Family Kindness Knight has encouraged you to celebrate more kindness in your school community. In life I like to think of going with the flow, specifically the Holy Spirit flow. By praying, relying, and cooperating with the Holy Spirit, the kindness ideas just seem to radiate like confetti.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13