From organizing kindness-themed spirit days to helping promote goodwill on campus, classrooms in Orange County and beyond plan to exemplify care and compassion during this year’s Great Kindness Challenge.
From Jan. 22 to Jan. 26, schools nationwide will come together to carry out good deeds on campus, promoting a more positive environment for students, school staff and communities.
The program, which was founded by nonprofit Kids for Peace in 2011 and has been endorsed by State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, is committed to recording as many kind gestures as possible in a single week while supporting educators and young learners in their participation.
Educators who wish to get involved can sign up for the challenge and download a checklist and toolkit to guide their activities here.
Since its inception, the campaign has logged over 950 million acts of kindness across 115 countries. In California alone, more than 4 million students from 61 school districts and 7,456 schools did their part to share over 200 million acts of kindness for last year’s weeklong event.
Elementary school students in the Brea Olinda Unified School District did their part in 2023 by greeting their peers as they arrived at school each morning and crafting encouraging handwritten signs to post around their campuses.
As part of OCDE’s commitment to helping students thrive and promote good character, the department has its own One Billion Acts of Kindness campaign to amplify civility and improve school climates. Educators, students and community members can log the kindness they see year-round at kindness1billion.org.
With the theme “Create Kindness,” students from prekindergarten through 12th grade are encouraged to uplift their school communities in their own way. Whether that’s cleaning up around campus or lending a helping hand to a classmate who is struggling, schools can look to the program’s customized kindness activities for inspiration.
No matter how small, no act of kindness goes unnoticed.
Orange County teachers and school staff interested in getting their schools involved can register at thegreatkindnesschallenge.com to log their acts of kindness throughout the week. Returning schools, districts and county offices can apply to become “Kindness Certified” and receive a Great Kindness Badge to display online and on campus.