Melinda Forward, Program Director with Michelle Soto & Alyssa Martinez, Senior Kindness Ambassadors
MISSION: Engage students of all ages through simple, yet powerful, challenges, activities, and art installations that build relationships while boosting social, emotional, and academic achievement.
Welcome to Kindness Club International Alliance, where we use literacy and art to inspire change in schools. We teach students leadership and communication skills so they can evaluate the needs of their schools, fellow students, and themselves. They strengthen critical thinking and problem-solving skills by designing their own projects to address the issues they are most passionate about solving. Students learn the history of activism and the skills they need to advocate for themselves and others, by learning from model changer-makers. Kindness Club Project is where literacy and art connect learning and life.
WHY?
Let’s take a look at reality in education. Every child in America experiences school, for 12+ years. Schools are challenging places, filled with ups and downs, good moments and bad moments, successes and perceived failures. The dropout rate in American is getting higher and higher, each day 7.000 students drop out of school. That is more than 2 million students per year. More than 50% of our students are experiencing poverty. Life in school is not always easy. Students have special needs, basic needs that aren’t being met. Obstacles get students down, create a fixed mindset where they don’t feel like they have any power to change. By taking on a Kindness Club Challenge, you bring a fresh, new activity to campus and that creates opportunities for ALL students to participate and be connected.
Using the power of kindness, hopes, dreams and optimism, our focus is reducing negativity, discipline issues, and the dropout rate by increasing student engagement.
How do we teach kindness? It is not a common standard or chapter in a textbook. So, we need to ADD Acts of Kindness to the school day. Our special projects like: #ThankfulThursday Quick Gratitude CHALLENGE, DREAM Walls, 1,000 Thank Yous, Inspiration ROCKS, and Sidewalk Talk are a few examples of tools to engage students campus-wide.
Why Culture-Builder Service Projects? Young people who are inspired with purpose, engage in school and are more likely to stay in school. We are here to TEACH YOU how you can ENGAGE students in new ways with these simple, yet powerful, Culture-Builders.
By participating in monthly culture-builder challenges, students find their voice & their power through this common mission, building new friendships along the way. They realize they can make a difference. They see they are important at school.
Relationships are one of the strongest factors in students staying in school. Through intentional culture-building, students can develop stronger relationships with fellow students and teachers. These relationships provide helpful resources for students in need. Would relationship-building like this be helpful at your school? If so, we might have simple solutions for you.