Winifred Pifer takes the ‘Great Kindness Challenge’
Students will join nearly 17 million youth in 115 countries to help create a kinder world
– Winifred Pifer Elementary will participate in the 11th annual Great Kindness Challenge the week of Jan. 24 – 28, 2022, and they invite the entire community to join in and cheer them on. The Great Kindness Challenge, presented by the global nonprofit Kids for Peace, was launched with three Carlsbad, California schools in 2012 to address bullying and to foster connection, inclusion, and compassion. The annual program has multiplied in enrollment each year, having grown to nearly 17 million students in 33,000 schools, reaching across all 50 states and 115 countries.
“We are living through a global pandemic which is hugely impacting our families, students, communities, and the world,” Jill McManigal, co-founder and executive director of Kids for Peace, explains, “We are truly grateful for all educators who not only ensure safe school environments but are also committed to creating school cultures that promote equity, community, empathy, and social-emotional wellness. The Great Kindness Challenge provides educators and students the tools, opportunity, and encouragement to actively create a positive, respectful and inclusive school culture for all.”
Schools and students are drawn to the program for its positive and proactive approach to creating kinder school climates through a simple checklist of intentional acts of kindness. The checklist will be distributed to students at the beginning of The Great Kindness Challenge week. Students will be encouraged to complete each kind act over the course of the week, as well as take part in additional community-building events and global service projects. Winifred Pifer Elementary will amplify the experience by having a kindness theme for each day of the week. While the excitement of The Great Kindness Challenge is enormous, it is the simple acts of kindness that prove to be the biggest hit.
Some of the items on the checklist are: wave at 25 people, help the teacher with a needed task, read a book to a younger student and safely sit with a new group of kids at lunch.
The Great Kindness Challenge is a positive and uplifting program that creates a culture of kindness in schools, communities, and the world. Using a kindness checklist, schools and families are challenged to complete as many acts of kindness as possible. The School Edition is an annual one-week celebration during the last week of January.
The Family Edition is year-round. Schools and families may get involved by signing up at no cost: www.greatkindnesschallenge.org.
Kids for Peace is a California-based global nonprofit that provides a platform for youth to actively engage in socially-conscious leadership, community service, arts, environmental stewardship, and global friendships. Founded in 2006 by a mother and a high school honors student, Kids for Peace now engages over 17 million youth through their three programs: The Great Kindness Challenge, The Peace Pledge Program, and Kind, Creative & Connected in the Age of COVID-19.
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