Being kind is perhaps the greatest luxury that we can all afford to share with one another, and it’s completely free to do.
But it’s probably one of the harder things for humans to exhibit with one another. However, there is one teacher from Louisville, Kentucky who is working hard to teach her students the importance of being kind to others. And she’s also doing it in a way that allows them to be creative with their daily practice of kindness too!
The teacher is Stefany Bibb who works at the John F. Kennedy Montessori Elementary School. She’s also the leader of the school’s own “Kindness Crew.” Those in the Kindness Crew perform such acts of service such as holding doors open for others, greeting students and teachers in the morning with positive message posters, and other kind acts that the students come up with. For example, one fourth-grade student, Aniyah Cox likes to give out hugs to others as her act of kindness.
She shared with WDRB News, “I like to make people smile and I like to make them smile because it lights up my world and I know it makes them feel warm inside, too.”
Another student, a fifth-grader named John Johnson, said, “My favorite act of kindness is being able to hold the door for other people, because it shows that you care about them.”
Over the course of spring break, Bibb came up with a rock garden just outside the school’s entrance, where students can place painted rocks with messages on them. Students can then take a rock from the garden and keep it for a week before returning it. They’re also encouraged to add to it with messages of their own.
“You can also pass your rock down to your friends so you can make them feel happy,” Cox explained.
Bibb is hoping that as the students at Kennedy Montessori learn more about kindness, it’ll have a ripple effect in the community.
Bibb said, “Nothing you’ve heard from any of the students, nothing they do, is because of me. I just gave them the outlet to do what they naturally do. They’re naturally kind. There’s nothing I can take credit for how amazing they are and the kindness they spread. I’m just like, ‘Here, do what you do.'”
Watch the video below: