Caledonia — A group of Emmons Lake fourth-graders set out to spread cheer around the holidays and inspire kindness every day.
Imagined by Molli Bouma and formed by her and her peers, the Fourth Grade Kindness Club organizes acts of kindness around the school to show love and appreciation toward their teachers and fellow students.
“I thought it would be nice for some people to be involved in something, ‘cause we have Peer-to-Peer but not everyone is involved in that,” Molli said. “(Kindness Club) makes kids feel special because they’re a part of it.”
The week before holiday break, members wrote letters of appreciation to teachers who impacted them during their time at Emmons Lake. The fourth-graders also practiced their video filming and editing skills to document the experience and share it on the morning announcements.
“We all picked different teachers, read the card and then gave them the gift card and the flowers (to) make them feel loved and recognized,” Abby Richardson explained. “Usually it’s just the kids getting recognized … but now we’re the students recognizing teachers.”
Abby chose to write a letter to her former third-grade teacher, Mike Huene.
“He helped me when I was stuck on something (and) was just always there for me,” she said. “Some teachers are stressed out and can’t be (multiple) places at once, and Mr. Huene was always there for me when I needed him.”
After listening to her former student, Roman Kohn, read his letter to her, second-grade teacher Kelly Mulry said, “Wow. That is more than kind. That is one of the sweetest things anyone has ever written to me.”
Creating & Sustaining Kindness
Kindness Club meets almost every Friday with its adviser, Principal Nathan Walters, to plan a project for that week. Around Thanksgiving, the club interviewed teachers about what and whom they are thankful for and edited the interviews together for a video.
Eleanor Jongekrijg said when students watched the interviews on the morning announcements, “We hope (students) would feel special, and like someone (or their teachers) notices them.”
Other projects have included volunteering to help and play with kindergarten classes and writing affirmations on the chalkboard in the teachers lounge.
“If (a teacher) had a student who wasn’t cooperating and they were just kind of stressed out,” Abby said, “they could look at those affirmations, (such as) ‘You rock,’ and ‘You’re number one,’ and realize, ‘It’s OK, ‘I got this.’”
Brynlee Klapmust added: “If they’re having a bad day and then they have lunch, they can still know that they’re recognized for doing good stuff for kids.”
The club hopes to expand and welcome more members of different grade levels. Roman said he hopes they can continue the kindness club in fifth grade, after moving to Kraft Meadows Intermediate next year.
Walters, the principal, suggested to his students, “Maybe it can be your impact that you leave at Emmons Lake, or pass it down when you guys leave.”
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