“Fun!”
That’s the reason many students participate in their schools’ Student Council and Leadership programs. They want to have fun. Has that been true for you? Because it’s certainly been true for me.
Of course, planning dances, deciding spirit dress up days, and running pep assemblies are fun, as well as necessary, responsibilities of a high school or middle school student government program, but what if your student leaders also worked to make your school more inclusive and serve other students and the community?
There’s certainly nothing wrong with fun, but I learned quickly in my first year as a student council advisor that fun was the only expectation several of my students had. And their definition was tightly narrowed to only things like dances, pep assemblies, and lunchtime class competitions. It got frustrating at times trying to constantly nudge students to consider a bigger mission than just fun.
Over time, I was able to develop a program with service leadership at its core. Simply speaking, service leadership is a mindset shift that frames everything we do under the mission of serving others. And one of the most effective ways I found to nurture this new thinking was to schedule two Kindness Projects in our calendar, one in the fall as part of our Intro to Leadership Unit and one again in the spring.
Students lead the entire project, from brainstorming, to execution, to reflection. There are only two rules: it must spread positivity and it must be inclusive.
If you want to try your own Kindness Project, everything you need is included in a FREE Service Leadership PBL Kit. This kit not only has a few foundational activities to lead students through, but it also has all the planning sheets they need to carry out a successful project!
And while it’s always best to have students generate their own original ideas for a Kindness Project that fills a specific need at your school, here are 13 awesome ideas that are doable, impactful, and still really fun! Feel free to borrow or just use them as a brainstorm starting point.
1. “Take What You Need” Bulletin Board
This is a popular one, but when done correctly, it never gets old. Have students brainstorm possible emotional supports their classmates may need (ex. courage, commitment, self-love), then search for a dozen or more quotes that can be meaningful mantras and reminders for that need. Grab a pack of assorted-color sticky notes and write all the quotes related to a certain need on the same colored stickies.
Post them on a centralized bulletin board so anyone walking by can easily find a quote to fit what they need. The colors also let your student leaders more easily refill the bulletin board, especially if certain ones go faster than others.
2. Thank You Note Station
In a high-traffic location at your school, set up a basket filled with blank cards and envelopes for students to write thank you notes to those who deserve appreciation. Have your student leaders get it started by writing a few samples to display next to it, as well as write and deliver some of their own cards to schoolmates.
3. Staff & Community Holiday Cards
In honor of whatever is the next upcoming holiday, have students send out handmade and handwritten cards to a specially chosen group of people (ex. support staff, teachers, parent volunteers, or community members). Send notes of gratitude at Thanksgiving to one group and then notes of appreciation at Valentine’s or Saint Patrick’s Day to another.
4. Kindness Hot Cocoa Cups
Pull out all your colored markers and get to doodling on white paper cups. Have students write or draw anything that sends a positive, uplifting, or goofy message. Then, serve hot cocoa in them. We love doing this one in January.
6. Stall Messages
This is perfect for sayings a little longer than a quick quote, but single quotes work great, too! Have students design signs that have powerful messages of encouragement and positivity and put them on the insides of bathroom stall doors, above sinks, or at drinking fountains. Similarly, students could post weekly or monthly calendars to encourage attendance and involvement to various school activities.
7. Kindness Rocks
This is another popular project seen already in many communities, but you can’t deny how exciting it is to find a painted rock. Have students find, clean, and paint small rocks with acrylic paint, then spray seal them. The best ones usually don’t have any specific kindness message at all, but rather have fun, bright images on them. Your students could either hide them around campus or throughout the community.
8. Name Poem
This is a great surprise to do at an assembly. Get a list of your entire student body and write a silly poem incorporating everyone’s name. If your school is large, then an option could be to do one grade at a different pep assembly throughout the year, or group duplicate names together in one mention. This kind of experience has every kid leaning in, waiting to hear their name, and it makes those with unique names be stars because they get their own individual mention. Just make sure whoever reads it pronounces the names correctly! This is great to do at the beginning of the year at your Welcome Back assembly.
9. Staff Shout Out
This one is easy to incorporate in the morning announcements. Students write their own shout outs about a staff member or solicit nominations from other students in the school and read them out for the whole school to hear. Teacher Appreciation Week in May is a perfect time to do this one.
10. Conference Coffee Bar
If your school holds parent-teacher conferences, the entire staff will be so appreciative of your student leaders for putting together some coffee and hot water with a few creamer and mix-in options.
11. On-Call Help
Create request tickets and hand them out to staff members. If anyone needs simple tasks completed that aren’t super urgent, like taking empty boxes out to the recycle bin, then they can turn in a ticket and within a day or so your students leaders can come by their classroom or office and complete the task.
12. Morning High Fives
This one is just what it sounds like. Your student leaders station themselves at all the entrances to your school, and for the 10 minutes prior to the start of the school day they give out high fives and welcome everyone coming in. Mondays or Fridays are great days to do this one.
13. Kindness Bingo
Have your students create boards with all sorts of small, single acts of kindness (ex. giving a compliment) then challenge others in the school to participate. Since the end goal is spreading kindness, this shouldn’t become a competition with prizes, but rather a nudge or reminder to serve others, too!
If you are ready to teach service leadership and host your own Kindness Project, then click below to get your own copy of the FREE Starter Kit. It includes three lessons and everything you need to complete a school-wide Kindness Project!
Click below for your FREE download!
Image credits: Simon Ray
