The Kindness Challenge

Lower School Director, Melissa Shunn-Mitchell, used the Lower School assembly on January 6 to promote a “Kindness Challenge” to students. “Our PE teacher, Amy Newman, was the one who shared the idea with me,” explains Ms. Shunn-Mitchell. “She had given the challenge to her PE students and was extremely pleased with the kind words and kind acts that resulted.”

The challenge? Do one nice thing for five different people every day.

To build excitement for the Kindness Challenge, Ms. Shunn-Mitchell enlisted the help of Lower School students, who shared their ideas, experiences, and suggestions with classmates on a school-produced video. After watching the video at the assembly, students pledged, pep rally style, to keep the challenge going all year.

Ms. Shunn-Mitchell goes on to say,

I explained to students at the assembly that the Kindness Challenge is one idea by one person. That person, Ms. Newman, shared the idea with me, and then with each of her PE classes. Then I asked students, ‘What would happen if you went home and shared this idea with your family and friends?’ That’s how big changes start — with one idea from one person.