What schoolkids learned from a playground fundraiser linked to acts of kindness : NPR

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

In Colorado, an elementary school raising money for a new playground paired donations with acts of kindness. The campaign made a big impression on students. Colorado Public Radio’s Jenny Brundin spoke with some of them about what they learned.

JENNY BUNDIN, BYLINE: This year, Thea Blodgett had to find a new school.

THEA BLODGETT: My school closed, so I moved here.

BUNDIN: The new school was Broadway Elementary in Grand Junction, Colorado, and it was in the middle of a kindness campaign – big acts of kindness in the community or small acts at the school. So Thea was bold.

THEA: It was someone behind me. I’ve never seen them before. Her name is Ryland, so I said hello.

BUNDIN: They quickly became friends. Thea didn’t stop there.

THEA: My favorite act of kindness was saying hello to a new friend, painting rocks, and decorating my mailbox.

BUNDIN: The school’s approach was that acts of kindness have a ripple effect. Fifth grader Brantlee Gomez describes a school video on a kindness channel.

BRANTLEE GOMEZ: A little boy was nice to a little girl. Then the little girl was nice to the teacher, and the teacher was nice to the whole class. And then the class went home and was nice to their families, and it came back to this little boy who was nice to the girl.

BUNDIN: Students devoted their energy to helping others in town. Fifth graders dropped off care baskets full of items at a local cancer center and nursing home. This is Charlie West.

CHARLIE OEST: One of my grandmothers is there, and she told us that, like, it really made her day, and she was just really happy to know that, like, someone was there and, like, really cared.

BUNDIN: Students wrote heartfelt thank you notes to the first responders. Some helped clean up a river or sorted grain at the food bank. First-grader Stella Wilson-White got to work in her grandmother’s kitchen.

STELLA WILSON-WHITE: I made these really cool cakes for Mr. Robert and Mr. Anthony. They are cleaning the school. My grandmother prepared the cakes. They are chocolate. I decorated them. They loved it.

BUNDIN: And how did you feel inside when you saw their smile when they received the cake?

STELLA: I felt really loved.

BUNDIN: Even siblings, who can sometimes be annoying, have learned to show their love. Once again, Charlie.

CHARLIE: My brother, he had this brilliant idea that he was going to hug me every hour of the day. Every time I turned a corner, went up the stairs, he would jump up, give me a hug and run away. Just run away.

BUNDIN: Did the school keep track of how many acts of kindness she performed in total?

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Yes, we do.

THEA: Yes. We put pinwheels in our lawn. Every act of kindness is a pinwheel in the lawn.

BUNDIN: The lawn in front of the school was covered in pinwheels. About…

THEA: Two thousand and five.

BUNDIN: What? Are you kidding me?

THEA: That’s a guess.

BUNDIN: Yes. They raised $23,000 for the playground. But Camila Maitre, also new to the school this year, learned much more.

CAMILA MAITRE: Being kind makes others feel like they belong anywhere.

BUNDIN: For NPR News, I’m Jenny Brundin.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARRDEE AND CAT BURNS SONG, “HOME FOR MY HEART”)

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