Kindness Is The Heartbeat Of Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School

Press release from the Rocky Point School District:

March 7, 2022

Joseph A. Edgar Intermediate School students and staff work year-round to promote kindness, and before the holiday break, they pumped it up by hosting a Kindness Week celebration and Great Kindness Challenge. Students and staff enjoyed spirit dress-up days and daily activities, and individual classes created their own independent kindness initiatives.

Daily themes included “Kick Off to Kindness for Valentine’s Day,” when teamwear or red attire was seen around the hallways; “Dreaming of Kindness Day,” in which many wore pajamas or cozy clothes; “Kindness Is in Our Character Day,” which encouraged Character Counts colors or clothing with a kind word; “Crazy for Kindness Day,” during which lots of crazy clothes, hairstyles and funky socks were worn; “Celebrate Kindness/School Spirit,” when students wore kind messages or showed their school spirit.

According to guidance counselor Jean Costa, one of the proponents of the annual event, activities included a kindness bulletin board with the theme “Kindness Is the Heartbeat of JAE.” The board features individual messages of kindness from each class, special area teacher, and support and office staff. A schoolwide Chain of Kindness was created in which students received links for doing kind acts, and classes created chains with the links each student received that were put together at the end of the week so the students could see all the kindness in the building.

In addition, students created cards and coloring pages for people in local nursing facilities and others who may need a smile. They also penned thank-you notes and notes of appreciation for school staff and worked on their Great Kindness Challenge lists.

This press release was produced by the Rocky Point School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.