While the week-long “Great Kindness Challenge” has existed in some form within Yelm Community Schools’ elementary schools for almost a decade, the event was bigger than ever from the week of Jan. 22-26.
The challenge, which challenged students to perform 50 acts of kindness throughout the week, grew to a district-wide event in 2023-24. YCS Superintendent Chris Woods and the school board adopted a proclamation to bring the challenge to all nine schools, as it was prominent in the six elementary schools for years.
On Tuesday, Jan. 23, the City of Yelm followed the district’s lead by issuing a proclamation that recognized the week as The Great Kindness Challenge Week in Yelm.
Each day of the week, district students and staff displayed their commitment to the challenge by participating in what they called “community spirit days.” The following were the themes for this year’s challenge:
• Monday: “I Dream of Kindness” (wear pajamas)
• Tuesday: “Kindness Makes a Difference” (wear different shoes on each foot)
• Wednesday: “I’m Crazy For Kindness” (wear a crazy hat or clothes)
• Thursday: “I Shine With Kindness” (wear shiny or sparkly things)
• Friday: “I Feel the Beat of Kindness” (listen to uplifting music to encourage myself and the world around me)
Several schools kicked off the week with an assembly, others placed posters and notes with positive messages around school, and students of all ages distributed compliments to those around them.
Shannon Gubser, a social emotional learning specialist in the district, was a counselor at Lackamas Elementary School when “The Great Kindness Challenge” first came to Yelm. She said the challenge has made a significant impact in reducing bullying and boosting friendships and leadership in schools.
“I would love if Yelm was known as a city of kindness. That might sound really good, but to really do that, it has to be a genuine thing,” she said. “It’s not just that you check a box that says you did 50 kind acts this week. The dream is that, genuinely, our heart is kind and we are kind to other people.”
Different schools found different ways to spread kindness last week. Lackamas Elementary drew positive pictures and kind words on school walkways and wrote “thank you” notes to military members and first responders. Every student at Fort Stevens Elementary colored a puzzle piece of a letter that spelled out “Fort Stevens Cares For You.” According to Fort Stevens Counselor Mikylah Alkire, the school plans to send the banner with a picture of its students holding it to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to show its love and support for the school, which was the site of a mass shooting in 2022. Fort Stevens and Southworth elementaries also colored kind messages on paper bags for shoppers at Grocery Outlet. McKenna Elementary students placed posters that included messages like “Kindness matters” and “I love you so much” around the school.
The kindness also spread to local businesses, including Grocery Outlet, Twinstar Credit Union, O Bee Credit Union, Bliss Experience, Whitewater Orthodontics and the Yelm Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s been fun to be out in the schools and seeing kids dressed up and staff here at the district office dressed up,” Woods said during the school board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 25. “I really appreciate the board adopting the proclamation, and we’re going to see if we can make this grow in the coming years.”
Lastly, the district held an art contest for students with the theme of “Kindness matters! How we create kindness in our Yelm community.” Selected artwork will be featured in a published book that will be available locally and online, and all proceeds from the book will support the Learners Without Limits Foundation, which provides assistance for the needs of low-income YCS students.
