Students at Portsmouth Elementary School and East Portsmouth Elementary are wearing their hearts on their sleeves this week in a loving celebration of Kindness Week, on Feb. 13-17.
“Kindness week is random acts of kindness,” said Portsmouth Elementary School Principal Beth Born. “We want to show our students what kindness means and how to show it. We want them to understand that it doesn’t have to be a huge gesture. The smallest act of kindness can really make someone’s day.”
Each day of Kindness Week had a fun and special theme for students. Monday was “Kindness Ties Us Together,” and kids wore neckties and bow ties to school. On Tuesday, the theme at EPE is “Don’t Hide from Kindness” and students can wear camouflage, and the theme at PES is “Kindness Makes us Happy” and kids can wear orange. Wednesday is “Yee-Haw for Kindness,” with students dressed in western clothes. Thursday concludes Kindness Week with “Show the Spirit of Kindness” as students wear their favorite Trojan team clothing. Schools are closed on Friday (Feb. 17) for a waiver day.
At East Portsmouth Elementary, Principal Kristi Toppins passed out kindness coupons that read, “Being kind is cool. Please enjoy this random act of kindness. I hope it makes your day a little brighter!” After receiving the coupon, students are encouraged to pass it along to another student to help brighten their day. The school also passed out bookmarks and other activities for Kindness Week.
“Kindness is important so that kids know that everyone cares about them, and that you can care about other people, too. It’s both ways. You don’t just receive kindness, you also give it to others,” Toppins said.
At Portsmouth Elementary, students are encouraged to write a kind note on a post-it and stick it to the window in the cafeteria. The Monday morning announcements reminded students to say “please” and “thank you,” and all week long students stood up to take part in “I am the I in Kind” where students stood in for the letter I in the word “Kind.”
For more information about Portsmouth City Schools, visit them online at www.portsmouthtrojans.net, or follow the school’s page on Facebook.