A 'First Class' Effort

When Brad Hong and Jun Kim saw a new student at Ridgewood High School sitting with his sister last year, they decided to do something about it.

"We thought, 'Let's sit with him,' and we started talking. The next day... we invited him to sit at our table," Hong said.

But befriending that new kid was only the beginning.

"Why don't we do this for all new students, but also to all students at RHS?... There should be an open table where there's always a place to sit and talk," Kim said. 

The pair approached the high school's administration and eventually conceived the idea for First Class—a new student group organized to inspire random acts of kindness and foster dignity and respect within the high school community.

At its recent meeting, Hong laid out the group's two-part mission:

• Shadow new students to familiarize them with their surroundings; and
• Perform random acts of kindness.

First Class exists to "give students a voice in the school, an identity," said Assistant Vice Principal Jeff Nyhuis, the group's adviser.

"A lot of these kids are already involved in three or four others groups, but I hope this can gives some kids confidence or place to eat and socialize," he said.

Still in its infancy, the group is recruiting members. At its third meeting today, 20-plus students filled Room 116—mostly new faces.

Both sophomores, Hong and Kim led students in a brainstorming session to design a T-shirt. They wanted to create a collage of words that define First Class's mission. Students came up with "happiness," "exuberance," "spontaneous," and an assortment of others.

The meeting itself possesses a loose, joking atmosphere where students pipe in with a myriad of suggestions.

Nyhuis lets the students direct matters and interjects when needed.

"You have no idea of the positive impact when you set an example and someone's watching," he told club members today. "It's impact plus social awareness... The perception should be that we are a positive community."

The group got its name out this week by giving away doughnuts. Although promotional, the group essentially wanted to offer a nice gesture without strings attached. 

"People would ask, 'How much is it?' and get their wallets out. It's free," Kim said.

In the future, the group may print napkins with kind suggestions on them, like "Say hello to four people today," or "Hold the door for a faculty member."

"We don't want force people to do something they don't want to—then it's not really being nice," Hong said. "It's just a suggestion."

Principal Jack Lorenz suggested Kim and Hong mold their ideas into First Class, as he had a similar organization at his old school. "It is my hope that we will do all we can to deliberately start and control a positive epidemic of 'First Class' behavior," he said in a recent letter to parents.

Going along with the high school's institutional goals, First Class seeks to "decrease academic dishonesty, decrease inappropriate language, and to increase the dignity and respect we have for each other," Lorenz said.

The club may work with volunteer clubs like Project Interact or RHS Ambassadors, but will largely exist to better the internal high school environment. But, that doesn't mean the students will become the nice police.

"I don't expect them to confront students [who use bad language]—that's not their job," Nyhuis said. "But I think as a result of their daily, for lack of a better word, 'nice' things, it can only spread."

First Class meets Wednesdays at 11 a.m. in Room 116.