For the third year in a row, I will be sponsoring a Kindness Fair at our elementary school to celebrate World Kindness Day. The goal of the project is to promote and inspire kindness among all students in Kindergarten through 5th grade and encourage them to make kindness an intentional part of their everyday actions and interactions.
The Kindness Fair will include multiple learning stations that students in grades K-5 visit to learn how to spread kindness in a variety of ways. The stations each have a theme related to subject areas and life skills including reading, science, health, and the arts. These activities are prepared and presented by students from Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) who are completing a course on service-learning. The fair takes place for two full school days, so all classes are able to rotate through and participate. With grant funds, I would like to purchase brag tags for all students who attend that reflect the theme of the fair as well as a checklist of kind behaviors as a daily reminder of how to spread kindness. Students already receive brag tags for achieving reading goals at school so this special brag tag can be added to their special collection and will be a visible reminder of how to be kind every day. In addition, I'd like to purchase rubber bracelets printed with the title of the theme of the fair: Leading the Wave of Kindness. This is in direct correlation with our school theme for the 2026-2027 school year: Leading the Wave of Success. All students and staff members who attend would receive a bracelet as a reminder to spread kindness in the ways shared during the fair.
Spreading and teaching messages of kindness and encouraging students to do the same has a variety of benefits. The purpose of the fair is to learn about kindness, practice the behaviors, and remember to use kindness in the future. Students are often told to “be kind,” but the fair will give them concrete examples of what kindness actually looks like including helping, including others, encouraging someone, showing empathy, and making positive choices. By gifting students a brag tag and bracelet, it gives the opportunity to have a reminder to practice kindness daily instead of simply talking about it. This helps move kindness from an idea to action. In addition, including the entire school in the fair and gifting students with the kindness message take home tokens makes kindness become something the school community values collectively. Students begin to see that kindness is not just an individual choice but also a part of who we are as a school. Finally, and of utmost importance, this project encourages leadership and promotes the Leader in Me Seven Habits of Happy Kids that we focus on as a school every day. Students will learn that they don't have to be adults to make a difference. Simple acts of kindness allow our students to see themselves as leaders who can positively influence others.
The funds requested would be used for purchasing a rubber bracelet for each student and staff member that attends the Kindness fair, a brag tag and goody bag with handles for each student who attends (the goody bag will serve to collect items during the fair), and a small funding stipend for the college student groups to purchase student prizes and materials for the elementary students to use at the stations which will enhance the station activities compared to previous years.
