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Kindness matters

Published May 08. 2017 02:46PM
by Kathy Kunkel kkunkel@tnonline.com

Imagine you're in middle school and someone hands you $10 to use as you wish, with one little catch. You can't spend the money on yourself. You have to pay it forward and do something kind for someone else.

That was the scenario at the Tamaqua Area Middle School at the start of the 2016-2017 school year when teachers Deb Sweeney and Kim Woodward challenged their students to spend the year being kind to one another through the "Be The Change Kindness Challenge." The project was made possible through a grant from the Blue Raider Foundation.The teachers created the challenge to help students relearn the art of kindness, manners and face-to-face verbal communication, skills that some say are seriously lacking in this age of technology.They began planning how it would work during the summer of 2016 and created a huge plywood sign, with the words "Be Kind." The sign was then attached to the fence at the soccer practice field, where it is one of the first things seen by the school community every morning.Each month, the students worked on a different aspect of promoting kindness. That included creating a "Kindness Klub." Students used Ms. Woodward's art classes to create unique bulletin boards, posters and signs to decorate the school, inside and out. They also created bracelets with the words "Be Kind" and distributed them during the school year.And then there was that $10. Almost two dozen students were given a few examples of how to spread the kindness, but were allowed to choose their own paths. Several students had an individual in mind to help, while others chose organizations such as the Tamaqua Salvation Army, the Tamaqua Area Adult Day Care, the Hometown Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, West Penn Fire Company and Forgotten Felines and Fidos.They followed up with a short report on how they spent the money, along with sharing how their actions affected them and the recipient.A PowerPoint presentation, showcasing the students and their kindness, will be presented during the eighth-grade graduation ceremonies on May 26."The Kindness Challenge was a huge success," says Sweeney. "It's hard to teach intrinsic values and I was so happy to see that they not only made a positive difference in others lives, but they realized that it changed them on the inside as well. We could not ask for more than that!"

ABOVE: The Tamaqua Area Middle School was decorated with slogans and posters, encouraging everyone to be kind to one another throughout the school year. The art work, including this poster board filled with photos of the students doing random acts of kindness, was on display last week during the middle school's choral concert. BELOW RIGHT: Famous quotes centered around kindness, like this one from ancient Greek storyteller Aesop, were just one of the ways students responded to the kindness challenge.
Tamaqua Area Middle School teachers Kim Woodward, left, and Deb Sweeney spent some time last summer developing a kindness challenge for their students. They created this sign out of plywood, then attached it to a fence near the entrance of the school so students would see it every day. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Student-created posters were just one of the ways Tamaqua Area Middle School students rose to the "Be The Change Kindness Challenge," which was carried out throughout the school year. Funding for the project was provided by the Blue Raider Foundation. KATHY KUNKEL/TIMES NEWS
Kindness can be contagious as Tamaqua Area Middle School students learned this year. The students created art work that was then shared with the other district schools.
Famous quotes centered around kindness, like this one from ancient Greek storyteller Aesop, were just one of the ways students responded to the kindness challenge.