The Great Kindness Challenge at Commack Middle School

By Brenda Lentsch

All students at Commack Middle School were invited to participate in the Great Kindness Challenge, which celebrated a week of kind acts from January 26 –  January 30. The Great Kindness Challenge is presented by Kids for Peace, in a global effort devoted to perform as many acts of kindness from a checklist of 50 kind deeds. More than two million children in 45 countries participated this year.  Commack students were encouraged to complete all 50 to “rock the school with kindness.” The school was awarded a seal to proudly display (right) as a “Kindness Certified School.”

A panel of CMS faculty and students, all members of the schools Social Emotional Development and Learning Committee, were instrumental in making preparations for this building-wide event. They also helped to host “Kindness Stations” during all lunch periods, where students created kind messages to present to the middle school community.  A bulletin board outside of the cafeterias highlighted student made messages of kindness, including, “Be-YOU-tiful,”   “You Matter,” and, “No matter how hard life gets, always have hope.”

Although the weather that week was cold and snowy, the warm acts of kindness were seen and felt throughout the building. Nurses received thank -you notes on Band-Aids, quotes of kindness filled the air during homeroom announcements, and students wrote notes of appreciation to their friends, teachers, and administrators. Cafeteria workers and main office staff proudly displayed the messages of kindness they received for all to see.

Photo (Courtesy of Commack School District): Students display items they created at the Kindness Station outside the middle school cafeteria. In photo with students are Frank Agovino and Carrie Lipenholtz, Assistant Principals (left), and Principal, Anthony Davidson (right).