Be Known For Kindness

We are past the mid-way point in the school year, and Winter Break is but a distant memory. January and February can be difficult months even for hardy Midwesterners accustomed to Nebraska winters. A combination of the post-winter break blues, cabin fever, short days, and bone-chilling weather can test even the most optimistic among us. A recent article published in USA Today even declared that January 21 is the most depressing day of the year. For these reasons, the Be Kind movement has never been more important.

The Be Kind movement has generated positive momentum across the entire metro area. Every public school district has adopted the “Be Kind” theme for the 2018-19 school year and significant progress has been made highlighting the importance of kindness and compassion. At PLCS, we started the year with our keynote speaker discussing the importance of kindness. We followed this up with “Kindness notes” and many schools have put up “Be Kind” bulletin boards to highlight the acts of kindness by staff and students. We have accomplished much, but we don’t want to lose the positive energy we’ve created.

Thanks to the efforts of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council, some terrific ideas have been generated to keep the movement alive. This Advisory Council, which consists of 8 PLHS and 8 PLSHS students, meets with me once a month over lunch (Raising Canes is always a favorite!). The students create the agenda, and we discuss issues ranging from school safety to class rank. Meeting with this group is always one of the highlights of my month.

The students suggested that we hold a “Be Kind” week from February 11-15 and designed Monarch Maroon and Titan Blue “Be Kind” t-shirts for sale. Hopefully you were able to purchase one! We will celebrate the importance of kindness at the boys and girls basketball games on Friday, February 15. Most exciting of all, our students suggested we use the proceeds from the shirt sales to benefit the Student Emergency Fund through the PLV Schools Foundation. This is truly kindness in action.

Thank you for your support, don’t forget to wear your Monarch or Titan “Be Kind” t-shirts, and we’ll see you on Friday, February 15. As always, #BeKind!