Flower Hill Primary School students immersed themselves this week in learning about the concept of kindness and how it can be displayed in numerous every day real life situations. The school has been participating in a kindness initiative along with its counterparts across Huntington UFSD.
This is marks the fourth year that Flower Hill participated in the Great Kindness Challenge, which is being observed across the globe from January 24-28. Last year, over 15 million students attending more than 28,000 schools in 115 countries performed over 750 million acts of kindness according to organizers of the initiative.
“The Great Kindness Challenge is a proactive and positive bullying prevention initiative that improves school climate and increases student engagement,” states the organization’s website. “The Great Kindness Challenge is one week devoted to performing as many acts of kindness as possible on campus.”
Flower Hill Principal Lucia Laguarda and faculty and staff members were all in on the initiative and helping students understand the value and power of practicing kindness as a way of life.
“A Flower Hill motto is ‘When Given a Choice between Being Right or Being Kind, ‘CHOOSE KIND,’” Ms. Laguarda said. “All of Flower Hill knows this and we know how to show kindness in everything we do. We are all about choosing kind.”
Flower Hill has taken up the Great Kindness Challenge every year since Ms. Laguardi assumes the reins as principal.
“We have spirit week all week and challenge our Flower Hill Foxes to do something kind every day,” Ms. Laguarda said. “At the end of the week, we ‘spot each other being kind!’ All acts of kindness are celebrated.”
Third grade members of Flower Hill’s Kindness Squad have taken delight in spreading Great Kindness School certificates around the building and showing them off for visitors.