Manchester Middle School Celebrates the Nation-wide Great Kindness Challenge

Photo courtesy of SRSLY Manchester.

Manchester Middle School celebrates the Nation-wide Great Kindness Challenge.
SRSLY Manchester brought the Nation-wide Great Kindness Challenge (School Edition) to Manchester Middle School the week of February 8, 2015 through February 12, 2016! The Great Kindness Challenge is a week dedicated to performing millions of acts of kindness on campuses nationwide.

Manchester Middle School students worked independently to complete a 50 item checklist of kindness activities. Each day during lunch Manchester High School student volunteers from Students Leading Students and Key Club passed out raffle tickets for completed acts of kindness and encouraged students to participate in the event. At the end of the challenge High School volunteers drew three names from the raffle pot (winners listed below).

Raffle Winners:

• Leyla Sharifi won a $20 Gift Certificate to the Dutch Den
• Emma Taylor won a Homework Pass
• Elayne Ahrens won a First in Line Pass

SRSLY Manchester Lunch Kindness Stations:

• Tuesday = Wall of Appreciation
• Wednesday = Kindness Matters Posters
• Thursday = Thank You Paper Chain to Principal Mayes

Stories of Kindness:

• Sit with a new group of kids at lunch – Ms. Kemeter shared that a student told her that this was one of the hardest things she had done. Sitting with new people can be really scary, but MMS students challenged themselves and stepped out of their comfort zone for kindness.
• Show appreciation to a Counselor – Mrs. Huber-Stein glowingly reported that anonymous notes slid under her door made her happy and refreshed during a busy week.
• Give an apple or note to your Teacher – Mrs. Barnard was pleasantly surprised by an apple accompanied by a thoughtful note “Hello Sunshine”, written on yellow construction paper and cut out in the shape of a heart.
• Bring a flower to the Office Staff – Mrs. Hopkins & Mrs. Staten were presented with hand drawn flowers!
• Cut out 10 hearts & give them to friends – Students shared their plan with Ms. Hannah to make their friend who was moving away feel special and loved by each posting a heart with her name on it to the Wall of Appreciation. Their friend was really excited and happy to see her name all over the Wall.

For more information on Kids for Peace or The Great Kindness Challenge please contact Jill McManigal at 760-730-3320.

The Great Kindness Challenge School Edition was created by Kids for Peace to provide schools a tool for creating a positive school environment. This year 5,014,362 students in 8,022 schools in 61 countries participated in the 2016 Great Kindness Challenge. The Great Kindness Challenge is generously sponsored by Dignity Health, ViaSat, SDGE, NRG, The Code Crew, ExaMobile and Kinvolved. Kids for Peace is a global 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides a platform for young people to actively engage in socially conscious leadership, community service, arts, environmental stewardship and global friendship.

photo courtesy of SRSLY Manchester

photo courtesy of SRSLY Manchester

photo courtesy of SRSLY Manchester

photo courtesy of SRSLY Manchester

photo courtesy of SRSLY Manchester

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.