A group of girls wins a prize after writing essays about random acts of kindness at OMS.At Ooltewah Middle School, cards of kindness fill a box in the cafeteria, full of good deeds done by students. It’s called Random Acts of Kindness, and students are encouraged to tattle – on someone they see doing a good deed.
Last week, Kennie Almonor was the lucky winner of a new Kindle Fire, thanks to a good deed he was caught doing last year. His name was drawn from dozens of do-gooders, and next week, the contest will reset and someone else will have a chance to win.
OMS PTA president Kristin Gans said the idea for RAK came to her after completing a project at the school last year. She was looking for a way to encourage children to be nice to each other without expecting recognition when she came across the website randomactsofkindness.org.
“We truly wanted to catch them doing something nice for one another, whether it is something big like collecting money for a local family or something small,” she said. “Kids are really responding to it and we really see them being nice to one another.”
It works like this: Kids or teachers notice a student doing something nice, without prompting and without bragging. They then are asked to fill out a card about their deed and drop it in the box. At the end of the month, some lucky do-gooder chosen at random gets a prize.
Some students who write an essay about Random Acts of Kindness also receive prizes, spreading the goodwill to other students.
Kids like it because they see people being rewarded for good behavior, and are encouraged to do nice things themselves, said Gans.
Principal Chrissy Easterly said she is happy to see the program be successful at the school.
“The support from teachers and students is very encouraging,” she said. “The effort to recognize behaviors positively impacting our school reinforces to all involved just how powerful ‘random acts of kindness’ can be.”