February 12th, 2018
February 11- 17 is Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) week. In the spirit of this special week, the Safe, Caring, and Inclusive Schools (SCIS) subcommittee of PIC asked a number of schools for their inspirational stories that we could share through Parent Posts – and we were not disappointed.
At Sandowne P.S., Parent Council members went in after school one evening and put notes on all the students’ desks with a special saying such as “Have a great day” and “You are a good friend”.
“For the three Kindergarten classes, we wrote a letter letting the students know what a good job they were doing at being kind and affixed it on their classroom door along with a sheet of smiley stickers (stickers for everyone!). Teachers also received personalized sticky notes about the things we appreciate about them and stuck it on their desks. Everyone was pretty surprised in the morning when they got to class.”
Students at Centennial Waterloo P.S. are inspiring change by promoting the Coldest Night walk on February 24.
“CIA is an acronym for ‘Children in Action’ and these students have indeed taken big action this year! In the Fall, the team planned four events for each week in December in order to raise money for the Mully Children’s Foundation. The goal was to raise funds for the Mully children’s orphanage in Kenya to build a sports complex. After cake raffles, sports arcades, hot chocolate sales and a pie in the face challenge, the CIA team raised close to $1,300. And now, they are taking on a new fundraising adventure called, Coldest Night. It is a walk that raises funds for Ray of Hope. Ray of Hope serves the hungry and hurting in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Students will be walking either 2, 5 or 10 km up King Street on a Saturday night during February’s winter chill. They will on some level, be experiencing what it is like for those living on the streets. The CIA team hopes that both the walking experience and the fundraising will impact many Centennial Lions and subsequently inspire them to ‘be the change’.”
For the Week of Giving in December, the Kindergarten classes at Northlake Woods P.S. chose to donate to the Ronald McDonald House Charity as a way to spread cheer and happiness to an important organization.
“Many families arrive at these establishments with few personal belongings or food. CARE BAGS are filled with snacks and drinks for families to grab as they leave for the day to the hospital. Our classes made 148 CARE BAGS and also donated five large boxes of food for the kitchen to use at its discretion. Ronald McDonald House of Southwestern Ontario was overwhelmed with our three classes’ generosity and our hearts were full of joy and pride knowing that we had made a small difference in the lives of those in need.”
Westmount P. S. is busy being kind all year long and feeding kids every morning.
“School Council, Parent volunteers and community organizations (including the Belmont Street Tim Hortons, the Belmont Village BIA and the Belmont Village Vegetable and Fruit stand) feed between 50 and 80 children breakfast daily during the school week, as well as many children over lunch.
Last year, School Council and Westmount Staff worked with the charity Food4Kids to provide food for families in our school community for over the weekend. And in November, volunteers organized our 6th Annual Clothing Swap where we gave out over an hundred winter coats. KW Bilingual School organized a winter gear drive of their own and donated their winter gear to our Clothing Swap. School Council donated over 40 pairs of waterproof winter mitts and gloves to make sure that Westmount Students have warm hands. We are working hard as a school community to make sure that our families have what they need.”
We would love to hear about your acts of kindness. Share your stories with us using the hashtag #WRDSBcares and tag @picWRDSB.
Parent Posts are written by parents, for parents in collaboration with PIC. This series features guest parent bloggers where they share inspiration, resources and information with other parents. We invite you to email and let us know if there are other topics you’d like to learn more about on Parent Posts.