Through acts of kindness Ms.Magee`s 12th grade class pays respect to the victims of Sandy Hook
By Kiara Ventura
Instead of discussing politics and the government`s role in society, Ms.Magee`s 12th grade Honors Government class spent class time last Friday preparing cookies and decorating a bulletin board to honor the 20 children and 6 women lost during the tragedy of Sandy Hook on December 14th, 2012. They all collaborated in an effort to show this school their support, and in the hope that other students might be inspired to participate. Specifically, they hoped the students of Manhattan Center would join the movement called Random Acts of Kindness.
Students package cookies to give out to the school
Random Acts of Kindness is a movement that strives to motivate people to perform small acts of kindness and to pass this habit on to others. A spontaneous act of kindness can range from randomly smiling or giving a compliment, to helping out someone who cannot reach a top shelf.
In this case, the Honor Government class made 150 cookies to give out to random MCSM students in the hallways. “We made cookies for acts of kindness. We are going to give the cookies out to random people and hope that they feel loved and sweet inside!” said Rabi Ibrahim, a 12th grader, as she smiled. “Some people who accepted the cookies were surprised and happy, and that made me feel good,” she added. “You know, to be able to put a smile on random students’ faces.”
A bulletin board stands in the middle of the 3rd floor with the title, “Remember Sandy Hook.” The students attached a drawing to it and displayed the stories of the students and school staff members who were killed. In addition, the bulletin board features short articles about gun control. Another group prepared a speech that was read over the announcements on Friday. It said in part: “We hope that this tragedy will bring out the families’ inner strength and that they will continue in life with the same positivity they have learned from their children…The Sandy Hook incident should not only transform those who were closely affected by it but it should transform us as well through performing acts of kindness.”
Student , John Medina, shows the message that honors Sandy Hook that was packaged with each cookie.
The class also passed out blue and green ribbons to be pinned on their shirts to show support for Sandy Hook. “Wearing a ribbon means that today I am honoring their deaths, and that I am saying I will never forget them and that they will forever live in our hearts.” Yanlin Wu, a 12th grade MCSM student, affirmed. To the Honors Government class this was much more than an assignment, it was a real movement. By performing acts of kindness, baking cookies, decorating a bulletin board, creating a commemorative drawing, and reciting a speech during the school announcements, they engaged in collaborative activities that those most brutally impacted by the tragedy of Sandy Hook would all appreciate.
Student Inez Lopez elaborates on why it’s important to honor Sandy Hook, “The families that are not directly affected by the incident should still be there for the families that were affected. I feel that even though everybody grieves differently, everybody as a community should be together to show sympathy for those who were directly affected. For us to be there for the people that were affected by this would be helpful to them because they would know that they have support from the whole country as well.”
For more information on ideas for the Acts of Kindness Movement, visit: http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas
To read the full speech recited on the announcements on Friday, click on the link: …….