Ms. Nolting is a 2nd grade teacher at Worthingon Elementary School in Indiana. “My students will be the next generation to lead this country,” said Nolting. “They need to begin at an early age to learn the value of being an active citizen and compassion for all people.”
After teaching from the Service-Learning Toolkit to Grow Kindness, Ms. Nolthing’s 2nd grade class concentrated on the What Can I Do For You lesson. After learnings and discussion, the students decided at the beginning of the project on ways to show kindness every month to a group at their school. For example, one month they sponsored a "Caught in the Act" jar. This jar provided all members of the school community a chance to nominate someone caught being kind. For 15 days they drew names and the winner was given a sucker. The students decided to spread kindness to their kindergarten friends by inviting them to their classroom to read and complete a craft. The students spread kindness to all staff by presenting a tulip in the spring. Their final act was to visit each classroom to deliver "kindness seeds" to plant.
The students monitored the jar, planned their readings and craft, and decorated the seed packets.
Josiah stated, "I enjoyed reading to the kindergarten class and had fun helping with the craft." Chloe said, "I was so happy to give flowers to the teachers.”
The students became confident in their project and they enjoyed sharing their kindness with everyone.
“I am retiring this year,” said Ms. Nolting. “It is my hope my students will remember this project for years to come and spread kindness!”
The Learning to Give grant money allowed the students to conduct their project without interruption. They felt proud to share kindness with the whole school community!