 An excessively shy little girl at Our Lady of Hope spent the last school year “Making herself as invisible as possible,” says her 7th grade teacher, Dena Campbell. She wouldn’t make eye contact. She wouldn’t talk to other students. At lunch she stayed in the classroom by herself. That same little girl is now planning her Quinceañera with new friends. Kindness made the difference. Kindness encouraged a timid young girl to lift her gaze.
Though everyone in her class recognized her shyness, after a few weeks of the school’s Kindness Campaign, one young boy—instead of discounting her—said, “We don’t know what she’s going through.” Empathy changed him from looking the other way to looking with more sympathy at his classmate. The school’s campaign was designed around a curriculum based on the book and movie, Wonder. Originally planned for religion-studies students, the school ultimately decided to share the learnings school-wide, encouraging everyone to take a deeper look at what it means to be kind, to live with more understanding for each other’s situation. Every morning, principal Mary Delac, led the entire school in a morning prayer, choosing a different emotion or life-challenge to reflect upon—feeling unloved, being incarcerated, having drug addiction problems. The students then shared a moment of silence as they thought about situations others (perhaps themselves) were living through. “I realized that life is bigger than me,” one boy shared with his teacher. It was a good lesson for grade school students to learn. It’s a good lesson for all of us to learn from them.
4 Comments
8/13/2018 04:29:16 pm
I think anything which is not actively done with intent is unkind. It's a mere coincidence. Mostly it is hidden within the context of wanting to help others but the truth is we cannot really fool anyone even ourselves. Sometimes the only reason we are doing things is to get something from others who are willing to pay a high price for something they can't get their consciousness to do themselves. It's normal and some would even agree it's simply a way to survive. Would we rather survive on kindness and not try to take advantage of anyone all the time? Will the world be a better place then? 8/22/2018 02:25:08 am
Intentional kindness maybe pristine but anything done with intention whether good or bad is never unconditional. We are expecting a positive response in return, as little as a simple acknowledgement of our kindness. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is actually healthier to be on the receiving side of gratitude. Even so, it is always better to make kindness as involuntary as possible. Make it so natural that you can easily practice it even when asleep. Even without intentions, make sure it is graciously and generously abundant.
Elizabeth
8/21/2018 06:12:01 am
I thank God for all the wonderful teachers and Ms. Delac. My family has truely been blessed with this amazing school. I have seen 3 out of 5 graduate from OLH and this year my 4th will graduate. They have become amazing young men and women. They are grateful, thankful, kind and humble. Thank you OLH for all that you do. Leave a Reply. |
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