Kindness Month
at Rippon Middle School
A Building-Wide Initiative
All February long, Rippon Middle School has been celebrating Kindness Month. Every teacher in our building was given lesson plans and activities that incorporate key values we want our students to go out into the world with: kindness, respect, caring, inclusiveness, integrity, responsibility, and courage. Our goal was to make kindness a conversation all over the building to help improve school culture and help all students feel supported in all their endeavors - personal and academic. Aside from starting the conversation, we also wanted our students to get INVOLVED in the actual act of kindness through activities and opportunities all month long. Please see below for how kindness took over Raider Nation this month!
Shining a Light on Kindness: No Place For Hate Initiative
Through the No Place For Hate Initiative, we completed our phase 1 activity to make Rippon Middle School a kinder, more inclusive, and safe environment for our students to learn and grow. Every student in the building shared an idea of how they can spread kindness on a light bulb template. These ‘lights’ were then strung up around the school in order to ‘shine a light on kindness.’ Kindness sets the foundation for social action because it fosters compassion and empathy in students and motivates them to help others. By shining a light on KINDNESS in our building, we’re able dim out harsh words, actions, and bullying and promote acceptance and inclusivity.
Kindness Candygrams
The No Place For Hate committee members also sponsored a fundraiser selling "Kindness Candygrams" to fellow Raiders. These candygrams were sent either anonymously or addressed, and included a candy bracelet and a kind message - see below. All candygrams were then delivered to homerooms by the NPFH committee members on Valentine's Day. The atmosphere at Rippon was full of excitement, love, kindness, and compassion on this day & this is a tradition we hope to continue next year!
Random Acts of Kindness Awards
As a school-wide initiative to promote the act of kindness as a norm, we challenged our students to perform random acts of kindness to others for others in the building. All month long, while students were doing these simple acts (i.e., picking up trash in the hallways, helping a teacher clean up the classroom, helping a classmate with work, holding the door open, etc.) teachers were nominating these students to be recognized and receive an award during Random Acts of Kindness Week (Feb. 16-22). We had over 40 nominations received and the following students were recognized during lunch and rewarded with a certificate, bookmark, and an ice cream treat! Congrats to all!
RAK Winners
6th grade
Antonella
Ewuradjoa
Farzad
Francisco
Genesis
John
Khadija
Lundyn
Shanaisha
Zakiya
7th grade
Aiyona
Ana
Ariyana
Ashlee
Brian
Camryn
CJ
Dajhoni
David
David
D'Corian
Fatima
Hafsa
Harpreet
Idella
Joshua
Marcin
Mia
Moris
Nazir
Parker
Rachel
Sani
Stephen
Yohanna
Zhane
8th Grade
Alison
Ashlyn
Dorian
Elisha
Elizabeth
Joseph
Kahlea
Rebhi
Rehan
Umu
Zahra
Kindness Can 'CHANGE' the World
The final activity for kindness month has been a change donation drive that benefits The Boys & Girls Club of Dumfries. While we want students to be kind inside our school building, we want them to also take their kindness out in to their communities and neighborhoods. One act of kindness can create a ripple effect of change. Students have been challenged with the task of raising $200 for the Boys & Girls Club that sponsors many students in our community. If we reach our goal, an added bonus is that Mr. Bergquist will be pied in the face!