At Medina Elementary you never know when you will find yourself the recipient of a random act of kindness.
Now in its third year, the fourth and fifth grade Kindness Club meets before school to talk about kindness and work on their latest kindness project.
“I wanted to join because it would be fun to give your kindness to people,” fourth grader Nicholas Chu said.
The club grew out of a group of third grade teacher Susan Muller’s former students who started coming by her classroom in the morning before school started. Soon other students were joining as well, and not long after the idea of forming an official club was born.
“It sounded really fun,” fourth grader Kellie Hawkes said of why she wanted to join Kindness Club. “I wanted to be a part of a community where I can help other people.”
The objective of the club is to spread kindness and build community in the school, as well as help students learn about how they can make a difference in their school and local community.
“It has turned out to be this amazing thing,” Muller said. “There are kids I would never see during the day who have joined and come, and they are bonding with other kids across the grade levels.”
Muller shares stories of kindness with her students, from Kid President to uplifting stories featured in the media and students talk about what it means to be kind.
One of the club’s recent activities was to create a poster for each staff member with encouraging words or quotes, thanking them for their kindness. The club members then went around the school before classes began, hanging the posters on staffs’ doors for them to find.
This year the club has 57 members. Other club activities include participating in a random acts of kindness challenge, making cards for kids in hospitals, kindness confetti, a grateful chain, and organizing clothing, shoe, and book drives.
“It’s about what they can create and do on their own, and thinking about their community,” Muller said.
Throughout the year Muller ties in the virtues of the month and said she sees the connection to the social emotional learning curriculum, especially the mood meter and how students are aware of their and others’ feelings and how they can show kindness to one another.
“It’s very relaxed,” Muller said of the club structure. “There are some mornings when they aren’t ready to get out of bed, and that’s ok. Come next week. You’re welcome anytime.”