Number of Participants: 300
Hours Donated: 1
Value of Time Served: $2,535
Event Type: Civic & Community
Sport: Schools
Date: February 19, 2021
Location:
Minnesauke Elementary School
Highgate Drive, Setauket- East Setauket
NY
About:
For the third consecutive year, Minnesauke Elementary School students and staff took part in the Great Kindness Challenge, a national initiative to spread kindness and compassion.
This year’s program kicked off with a virtual assembly coordinated by Assistant Principal Sarah Kiersh, band teacher Mark Portugal, social worker Leia Woodruff and sixth grade guidance counselor Rebecca Keller and with all students receiving a kindness checklist, which they were challenged to see how many kind acts they could complete.
During the weeklong event, students and staff also took part in a themed spirit week and students were greeted with music through the loudspeakers to start the school day. Additionally, the school helped to collect spare change for the Kind Coins for Mexico, a project to support a friendship center in Mexico. Students donated loose change to the cause in jars marked by grade level.
As a visual display of their commitment to kindness, Minnesauke also took part in the Linked by Love campaign. On slips of paper students wrote messages of hope, which were linked together, and one long chain was submitted to the Guinness World Record. Several other chains were distributed to hospitals, seniors centers and libraries as a remind that kindness unites us all.
Lastly, teachers created and shared daily kindness activities throughout the week, including read alouds focused on kindness, lessons about self-care and crafts to encourage students to be kind to each other.
Photo caption: Minnesauke Elementary School students and staff took part in the Great Kindness Challenge this winter, during which they created a long chain of kind thoughts and collected loose change for the Kind Coins for Mexico project.
Photo courtesy of the Three Village Central School District
