Osoyoos Coyotes Captain Rainer Glimpel serves a taco to Madeline Bayliss as children from Osoyoos Elementary School attend a lunch to mark the conclusion of 17 Days of Kindness. Behind, Coyote Braeden Tuck serves another student. (Richard McGuire photo)
It’s one thing to ask young students to be kind to one another.
It’s remarkable when more than 300 students take those words to heart and go out of their way to be thoughtful, supportive, helpful and kind over an extended period of time.
For the second year in a row, that’s exactly what has happened at Osoyoos Elementary School as the teaching staff, more than 300 students and support staff all participated in the school’s 17 Days of Kindness campaign.
Starting in early January and wrapping up last Friday with a celebratory luncheon at the Sonora Community Centre, 17 Days of Kindness involves having every single student trying to show kindness, empathy and support to their fellow students, teachers and to their family members and friends outside of the classroom, said school principal Dave Foster.
Whenever a student performed an act of kindness over the 17 school days in January – be it by opening a door, issuing a compliment or simply going beyond the call of duty to be kind – students were asked to write it down as part of a paper chain.
That chain was spread out across the Sonora Centre gymnasium during Friday’s luncheon celebration and more than 1,600 paper slips had been signed by students, which is remarkable for a small school, said Foster.
The 17 Days of Kindness “makes the world a better place and it makes this school a better place,” he said.
The definition of kindness is showing friendship, generosity and consideration to others and the students at the school once again came through with flying colours, said Foster.
“You should all be very proud of yourselves,” he said.
Kindness can be displayed in various ways and it’s very encouraging to see the students be so enthusiastic about this campaign and go out of their way to be nice to fellow students, he said.
That kindness surely extended beyond the classroom and schoolyard when the students left school and returned home to spend time with their parents and siblings, he said.
“Kindness takes many forms,” he said. “It could be opening the door for someone else, being inclusive on the playground or telling other students how much you enjoy being with them.”
Teacher Julie Diaz, chair of the 17 Days of Kindness committee at Osoyoos Elementary School, agreed that students deserve all the credit for taking the kindness message to heart and doing so many wonderful things for each other throughout the month of January.
“I have seen so many kind acts,” she said. “You should all be very proud of yourselves. It was really nice to see how many of you tried their very best to be kind to others.”
Foster said the students deserve most of the credit, but the 17 Days of Kindness is a “team effort” that also includes support staff, members of the Parents Advisory Council, members of the volunteer One to One Readers group and other school volunteers.
“This is about everyone working together to make a difference,” he said.
The goal is that lessons learned during 17 Days of Kindness will carry through for the rest of the school years, said Foster.
The students were treated to a taco luncheon served by members of the Osoyoos Coyotes hockey club.
After lunch, students from two different classes showcased impressive videos they had put together to confirm the message of how it’s important for students to be kind to each other.
Due to the overwhelming success of the program over the first two years, Foster said there’s no doubt that the 17 Days of Kindness is going to continue throughout the month of January at Osoyoos Elementary School for many years to come.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
Osoyoos Elementary School Principal Dave Foster speaks to children at a lunch event last Friday at the Sonora Centre to mark the conclusion of 17 Days of Kindness. (Richard McGuire photo)
Children at Osoyoos Elementary School decorated the gym at the Sonora Community Centre with handmade posters celebrating kindness. (Richard McGuire photo)
Osoyoos Elementary School Principal Dave Foster speaks to children at a lunch event last Friday at the Sonora Centre to mark the conclusion of 17 Days of Kindness. (Richard McGuire photo)
Osoyoos Elementary School Principal Dave Foster speaks to children at a lunch event last Friday at the Sonora Centre to mark the conclusion of 17 Days of Kindness. Throughout each school day in January, students were asked to perform random acts of kindness to fellow students, teachers and staff. When all the good deeds were counted, students had performed almost 1,700 acts of kindness. The entire student body, teaching staff, parents and members of the Parents Advisory Council attended Friday’s rally. (Richard McGuire photo)
Children at Osoyoos Elementary School enjoyed a lunch of tacos to mark the end of 17 Days of Kindness. Grade 5 students from left are Braden Munro, Dylana Deane-Stevenson, Tarman Malhans and Inderpreet Dhaliwal. (Richard McGuire photo)
