JACKSON STUDENTS SHOW KINDNESS

Students at West Lane Elementary and Immaculate Conception School are performing Random Acts of Kindness this week.

Andrea Sachse's fifth grade class at West Lane made a banner which proclaims the theme of the week: "Let random acts of kindness bloom at West Lane Elementary."

The banner hangs on the wall of the gym, and around the gym wall are paper flowers with each child's act of kindness written on them. One child said he helped his teacher; another said that she helped her mother when her mother was sick.

Sachse organized the week's activities after she saw a story in the Southeast Missourian about Random Acts of Kindness Week.

"I asked Mrs. [Rita] Fisher if we could do this as a way to keep morale up and behavior positive in students during the last hectic days of school," said Sachse. "Hopefully, we will encourage students to do this all year long."

Both individual and classroom activities are being performed. Janet Hitt's class will pick up litter around school and help the cooks serve lunch. Becky Peters' art class did posters with a kindness theme, and Karen Sturm's fifth-grade class is collecting dog and cat food for the Humane Society.

Sachse sent out a letter Friday to each of the teachers outlining this week's plan for Random Acts of Kindness. Each morning begins with a motivational reading over the school intercom. The purpose of the week was explained on Monday. Each day a drawing is made of numbers corresponding to numbers on the flowers in the gym, and the winners get a grab bag of treats.

Today, the song, "Let There Be Peace on Earth," was sung by music teacher Ruth Ann Allcock and select students. On Thursday, three students will do a kindness rap.

Students think that the week is a good idea. Jason Mayfield, a fifth grader, said, "I think Random Acts of Kindness is a time to be nice to people and not ask for anything in return, like extra allowance."

Sachse said that she hopes the idea behind the week has caught on.

Fifth grader Amanda Birk thinks it has. "Being kind is like being hooked on a book," she said.

Teachers and students at Immaculate Conception School are also involved in Random Acts of Kindness Week.

"I saw Random Acts of Kindness in the Missourian," said Sister Susan Biegert, fourth grade teacher, "and I thought that's a neat thing. There's so much violence in the world, and I wanted to dwell on the good things in our world, not the negative."

Every class at the school is performing acts of kindness. "Our class decided to do something kind for a student in our own class," said Jill Bruenderman, fifth grade teacher. "We have a drawing to see who is to receive the act. Some students have made cookies and have brought cold drinks for the winners."

Bruenderman said that class members have enjoyed the activities and have enjoyed the happiness brought to a class member.

"The activities have established the point that we should do for others, sometimes for no reason, just to brighten someone's day," said Bruenderman.

Joanna Rhodes, one of Bruenderman's fifth graders, has caught the spirit of the week. "I think Random Acts of Kindness is when a lot of people join together and do nice things for one another," she said.