Kindness Challenge spreads joy at Minter

The students at Sara Harp Minter Elementary are always up for a challenge, and Kayla Brown’s 5th grade class is rising to the occasion to spread smiles around the school by completing kindness challenges. 

Brown picked up on the idea from a fellow 5th grade teacher in California. The activity consists of 30 kindness challenges for the class to complete within their school as a way to kick off 2022 on a positive note. 

“I was inspired when I saw this challenge because, with so much stress, negativity, and worry in the world today, I felt this would be a way we could spread a little joy and kindness,” said Brown, who hopes students will recognize simple ways they can be kind to others every day. “My wish is that by completing a task each day, being kind will become a habit and part of their everyday interactions with others.”

Each day, one student is chosen to draw the new challenge out of a jar and read it aloud to the class. They work together to plan out how to accomplish the challenge, then they jump in head-first to get it done. 

The activities have included writing notes to their families to thank them for helping them learn and grow, helping another class clean up their recess equipment, and writing encouraging notes and hiding them in books in the library. 

“They are all so excited each day to see what we will be doing, and many come in asking each day when we are ‘revealing’ the challenge,” said Brown. “Our class has loved spreading kindness throughout our school and community.”