Golden students’ kindness shines during Great Kindness Challenge

A fifth grade girl at Golden Elementary School asked her teacher for an adhesive bandage: “It’s for our nurse,” she said. “I’m giving her a special letter to say thank you.” For two weeks in February, students wrote letters of appreciation to their teachers, custodians, the PTA and librarian. They created posters reminding each other to be kind, invited other students to sit with their “group” at lunch, picked up trash, helped each other manage unwieldy loads and, most noticeably, expressed words of kindness all throughout the Great Kindness Challenge. Golden’s Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL) program students, led by teachers Angela DeGraw and Karen Hope, organized the Great Kindness Challenge. They encouraged students through inspirational messages during morning announcements, and cheered them on during recess, collecting “hearts” of completion. The Great Kindness Challenge spurred every student to perform at least one act of kindness. Kindness makes everyone happy – one act of kindness can begin a perpetual cycle of kindness. Golden is now a happier, kinder place!