Hello Steller Community!

January 22-26, 2018 is a week chosen to build our world to be a better place, one act of kindness at a time. “The Great Kindness Challenge” is designed to create a kinder world. Why does kindness matter? Simply put, kindness creates happiness. Experiencing and performing acts of kindness provides an increased sense of self-worth, greater happiness, and optimism. It is also known that decreased feelings of helplessness and depression can be achieved. Kindness and generosity can be contagious. It can boost one’s self-esteem, improve relationships and boost a healthy well-being.

Conducting simple acts of kindness and implementing it into our daily lives can give an overall perspective and outlook that can improve on a biochemical level in the brain of positive feelings due to elevated levels of happy hormones also known as endorphins. Students who perform kind acts experience significantly bigger increases in peer acceptance, which is related to a variety of important academic and social outcomes, including reduced likelihood of being bullied. It is also reported that a better sense of belonging and improved self-esteem by performing small acts of kindness toward their peers and community increases self-worth. A single act of kindness can influence countless more in return.

Have fun and try to complete as many acts of kindness as you can. Your Kindness Matters! Attached is a Simple List of Acts of Kindness that are easy to implement. It could be as simple as saying good morning to five people, saying thank you to a good deed, stepping up for someone in need, or saying “hi” to someone who looks sad. I encourage everyone to participate in “The Great Kindness Challenge”. This national program is a terrific way to promote kindness in our community. The challenge also matches perfectly with the ongoing efforts to meet the social and emotional needs of the whole child.