The Great Kindness Challenge Brings Out the Best of Kern County Schools

From enhancing your morning brew to putting the “I” in KIND, students across Kern County are finding creative ways to lead with compassion this week as part of the Great Kindness Challenge, a worldwide effort to strengthen school climate and foster safe, supportive learning environments.

The Great Kindness Challenge began as a positive, proactive bullying-prevention initiative for PreK-12 schools back in 2011. Now, the program serves more than 21 million students across more than 43,000 schools. During the last week in January, participating schools use a kindness checklist to perform as many acts of kindness as possible on campus. Schools in Kern came up with their own ideas to show their community that kindness matters.

For the second straight year, Shafter’s Redwood Elementary School in the Richland School District teamed up with local coffee shop, Tin Cup Coffee, to spread positivity and smiles. First, on Monday and Tuesday, students from the Redwood Kindness Crew spent parts of their recess and breaks decorating coffee cup sleeves, adding a personal touch and messages of kindness for the community. These personalized sleeves were distributed by the coffee shop all throughout the week.

“We believe this is a wonderful way to spread kindness far and wide, and our friends at Tin Cup Coffee are graciously helping us make it happen,” said School Social Worker, Vanessa Alba.

The students also decorated posters with more messages of love and kindness, which they shared with all the other schools in Shafter. Alba said these posters serve as a reminder of the positive impact that kindness can have. She was so happy to see the students’ enthusiasm and dedication to the task.

“The reason behind these activities is to instill a sense of community and the understanding that small acts of kindness can make a significant difference,” she said. “Our students have embraced this message wholeheartedly, and it has been a joy to witness their growth and engagement.”

Meanwhile, in Mrs. Meszaros’ classroom at Stockdale Elementary in southwest Bakersfield, kindness is reinforced daily through every interaction and routine. During the Great Kindness Challenge this week, that philosophy came to life through a creative, student-centered activity that reminded students that kindness begins with everyone.

One of the featured projects, titled “I Put the I in KIND,” helped students see themselves as an essential part of creating a caring classroom community. Students used watercolors on  paper to create colorful backgrounds, then posed for individual photos that were used to form the letter “I” in the word KIND.

“It helped make the lesson meaningful and personal, while reinforcing that each student plays an important role in creating a kind and caring classroom community,” Meszaros said.

Students learn that kindness starts with them as they participate in the Great Kindness Challenge.

For Meszaros, this challenge is a reminder that kindness doesn’t need to be complicated to be impactful. It can show up in the simplest, yet most meaningful ways.

“Life can be hard at times. Teaching students that something as small as a smile, saying ‘good morning,’ or helping a friend can make a difference and go a long way,” she said.

Throughout the year, her class focuses on kindness through daily routines and intentional activities. To kick off this week, students wrote kind letters to classmates, practicing how to express appreciation by sharing what they like about one another and what makes each person special. Daily classroom habits, including greetings, turn-taking, sharing, and using kind words, continually reinforce kindness.

These projects also help students practice valuable social skills such as communication, empathy, and peer connection. Meszaros tries to embed kindness and support into everything she does in her classroom.

“More than anything, I want my students to remember that they are always treated with kindness in my classroom,” she said. “I hope that by modeling kindness every day, they carry it with them and become compassionate, thoughtful people for the rest of their lives.”