kindness challenge

BY VERONiCA SOUSA ’25

Mother Teresa once said, “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one come to you without leaving happier.” This quote inspired what my goal is with this project. I want to leave those around me happier and help others to inspire happiness too.

I have been a Girl Scout for the past ten years. The goal of Girl Scouting is to inspire girls to be leaders in their community while learning valuable life skills. The highest award a Girl Scout can earn is the Gold Award. To earn this award, the Girl Scout must complete a project that solves an issue in her community. The project must be sustainable and the Girl Scout must put 80 hours of service into it. Since I was a Daisy Scout, I wanted to earn my Gold Award and make a difference in my community.

Before coming to Bishop Kelley, I attended St. Pius X school. While at St. Pius, my Girl Scout troop started a project called “Random Acts of Kindness Day.” We held this event annually starting in second grade and continued it until we graduated. Our goal was to combat bullying, and ever since leaving St. Pius, I knew I wanted to not only continue the project but make it something bigger.

The summer before my sophomore year, I began to really brainstorm what to do for my Gold Award Project. I had the idea to start some sort of “Random Acts of Kindness Project” at Bishop Kelley, but I did not know where to start or who to talk to. One day I was chatting with Mrs. Clayton, who is a counselor here at Bishop Kelley, about how I wished I could start a project like that. She informed me that Mrs. Sutton,

I immediately wanted to take part and bring the project to life. I began emailing and meeting with Mrs. Sutton about what I wanted to do to make it my Gold Award and how to bring this project to Bishop

Kelley. I announced my first Kindness Challenge on November 11, 2022. I was so excited to get the project started with the goal of leading by example and inspiring others to spread kindness.

Each week, I announce Kindness Challenges to remind Bishop Kelley of this kindness goal. To add to the project, I asked teachers to submit kindness shout12 outs to be added to a Kindness Board in the main hallway. We have received amazing messages from faculty and staff thanking the Bishop Kelley Community for being kind. I hope to continue this project until I graduate in 2025 and then pass the project down so it may continue. This project will be my final Girl Scout project, and my goal is to leave it in good hands and continue on myself by being a kindness advocate in my community. goforcatholicschools.org veritasok.org

The easiest way to make someone’s day is through a simple act of kindness. It does not have to cost money or take a lot of time. Simply smiling and greeting people as you pass by them can instantly make a difference. I have worked on kindness projects for about eight years now and something I have learned is that being kind is not a challenge; it is a choice. Each day we must choose to be kind to those around us. These simple acts of kindness can truly change the world.

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