AKRON, Ohio — The week of February 17 is dedicated to National Random Acts of Kindness. Organizations across the country take part in the movement to inspire others to be kinder and spread positivity.
At King Community Learning Center, an elementary school in Akron, students and teachers boast kindness all year long.
- Student council raises money for people in need
- Positive messages are hidden throughout the school
- The goal is to minimize bullying at a young age
"It's part of our daily lives, you know, we are here all day every day with these kids and we want them to feel loved and we want them to show love to each other," said Brianna Hayes, art teacher at King CLC.
Encouraging messages can be found in the school's hallways, on doors and on the bathroom mirrors. A number of kindness initiatives at the school were started by the students, for the students.
Student council raises money for people in need, positive messages are hidden throughout the school and students can pledge to be sharing and caring on a student-led bulletin board.
"Sometimes there's people who just make other people feel bad about themselves so we want these people to realize they're fine the way they are," said Frankie Carter, 5th grader at King CLC.
The goal of the kindness initiatives is to minimize bullying, an issue that's all too family in schools nationwide.
"If people are being mean to them I want them to act like they have somebody to have a friend with and somebody to talk with," said 5th grader, Kaci Cherry, King CLC.
"They should know how to be kind and they should know how to be treated, would you want to be treated that way, the way you're treating them," said Ian Porter, 3rd grader at King CLC.
Students and teachers say they're already seeing a brighter environment and they're learning that changing the world starts with one random act of kindness at a time.
"When you say mean things you can't just take them back. It doesn't all change overnight, but seeing one person change is really good. When you're kind when you're younger, it'll come with you as you grow older," said 4th grader Margret Oram-Jacobs.