Student body rallies together to spread compassion

Founded by the World Kindness Movement in 1998, World Kindness Day focuses on the positive power and good deeds to promote community awareness, Nov. 13. According to OperationWarm, kindness sparks hope and creates joy which improves community lifestyles.

World Kindness Day is all about celebrating kindness, improving relationships and acts as an avenue of service to boost moral, respect and good will. For those who practice kindness on moral or ethical grounds, the writers of the New Testament in 1 Peter 4:10 and Galatians 5:13 implore them to use their gifts to serve others. 

Random acts of kindness present opportunities to show strangers and acquaintances that they are valued, even if they cannot repay the act. Acts such as lending someone a helping hand, giving them supplies, talking to older neighbors, bringing in neighbors’ garbage bins or cleaning up their yard are all ways to show kindness to another person. 

Diane Blowers, sixth through eighth grade English teacher, shares some simple tasks for someone who is not sure how to get started. Things such as opening the door for someone or smiling at somebody as they walk by both brighten the day and show respect.

“I would say start simple,” Blowers said. “Opening a door for somebody, giving somebody materials in class, letting somebody walk in front of you instead of cutting them off, saying I am sorry; these are all huge things. Just things like that that might seem simple, but those are the easiest ways, or as you walk by somebody, smile at them, because sometimes a smile can make a difference in someone’s day.”

In the following podcast, freshman Shane Phillips interviews teacher Diane Blowers about ways to be kind.

Blowers chooses to extend the activities of World Kindness Day to the rest of the week, prompting the students with different challenges to help them spread kindness to each other. 

“It’s a week that we participate in,” Blowers said. “Through that week we do different challenges for the students, we’ll give them different ways of being kind to each other, and then we give them some incentives to help them do these things.”

Jenna Obwald, ‘24, shares her thoughts on last year’s kindness week which she participated in. Obwald enjoyed the activities from last year and anticipates her further involvement with the event this year.

“I participated in last years kindness week that Mrs. Blowers had set up for the junior high,” Obwald said. “ I enjoyed the activities all of the days. She gave everybody a card that had ways to be kind on them and, if you did all of the things on the card, your name would go into a raffle to win something that day.”

Freshman Elise Bessey describes why the student body should incorporate kind gestures into their daily lives. Bessey encourages students to show compassion to one another every day, not just once a year.

“I think it’s important to have a day like this because sometimes we need to remember that we should be kind to others and do our best to help them out,” Bessey said. “I think that we should continue these kind acts in our normal day because kindness was not meant for just one day, it was meant for everyday of our lives.”

According to Thrive Global, showing kindness to another person may result in improved health benefits. Those who participate in random acts of kindness may see a decrease in stress, anxiety, reduced blood pressure, improved mood and possibly open the door to a new friendship or relationship. Spreading kindness may create a new identity for the giver, leading to compassion, joy and an increasing sense of happiness and purpose.

For more information, read How to Celebrate World Kindness Day. For ideas on how to get kindness started, read through 101 Best Random Acts of Kindness Ideas.

Comment below with your favorite ways to show kindness to others. For social media posts, tag @RAKFoundation and use the hashtag #WorldKindnessDay or check out @theworldkindnessmovement on Facebook or @WKMovement for Twitter.

For more articles, read Campus instrumental department prepares for various upcoming performances or Together we CAN food drive reaches families in need, spreads awareness.

Shane Philips can be reached via email.