Acts of kindness are taking place every day in our communities, offering a glimpse of hope and resilience.
The Orange County Department of Education and County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Al Mijares created the One Billion Acts of Kindness campaign in 2016 to encourage educators, students and their families to document and submit their kind acts online. They did this with the hope of promoting a great sense of civility, character and positive school climates.
As of this month, more than 14.7 million acts have been logged with the #Kindness1Billion initiative.
The OCDE Newsroom has gathered a collection of gestures of goodwill carried out by our Orange County school community members in the 2022-23 school year.
Below are a few of the kind stories you have shared with us that could become inspiration for ways to spread kindness this school year:
- Student leaders from Eader Elementary came together to support the Orange County Humane Society by donating essential supplies through their friendship grams initiative.
- El Dorado High School sponsored a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, with the goal of raising $15,000 to help encourage two young people dealing with a serious illness. After just one month, the students and school community were able to raise over $15,000 and make a wish come true for two students.
- Miss Tatum Katonor’s class at de Portola Elementary School completed 286 acts of kindness.
- The Peer Assistance League at Oxford Preparatory Academy’s South Orange County campus demonstrates kindness every day. During Great Kindness Challenge week, students placed strips of paper on lunch tables and encouraged their peers to write or draw pictures to describe acts of kindness that they’ve done recently. They put the pieces together and created a chain of kindness.
- In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Loma Ridge Elementary students made origami hearts for their teachers during Innovation Lab. To celebrate all of their wonderful teachers, students wrote special messages to each of their teachers and turned their origami hearts into flowers.
- Inside the Outdoors, an educational outdoor science program administered by OCDE, and the city of Newport Beach hosted an annual cleanup event in celebration of Earth Day, where Corona del Mar High School students collected trash.
- Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary’s garden received a surprise delivery of beautiful native flowers on Earth Day. Thank you to Samuel D. for donating and delivering this wonderful collection of plants and soil, and to Julia M. for coordinating the surprise! Also, thanks to Julia M., Joan, Wren and Phoebe K. for the help of planting and watering the new flowers. They are beautiful and fill in the space perfectly!
- Our Orange County Academic Decathlon Event was supported by over 153 community volunteers.
- Shoutout to the incredible Santa Ana Unified School District staff! To show our appreciation for your unwavering dedication and support throughout this school year, the SAUSD leadership team rolled up to each school with a special donut delivery.
- Hidden Hills Elementary’s Kindness Crew students worked hard to spread kindness into our community by creating over 100 stickers to be distributed to customers at our local Starbucks.
- Hooray for Holder’s GATE class for holding a book drive for new and gently-used books to reprise at school.
Don’t forget to log your kind acts on the kindness1billion.org website. For more on kindness, check out these stories we’ve shared on the OCDE Newsroom, including the “Exploring Kindness” episode of The Deeper Learning Podcast, hosted by Orange County Superintendent Dr. Al Mijares.