CARLSBAD UNIFIED CONNECTIONS

Kindness Matters

The Great Kindness Challenge is one of Carlsbad Unified's favorite times of the year. It's a week of fun and excitement and, more importantly, it's a time of awareness, generosity, and learning.

On January 20th we kicked off the week with the big reveal of the KINDNESS MATTERS art installation, displayed at The Carlsbad Strawberry Fields and visible from the I-5 freeway. The giant sign was created by Carlsbad Unified’s Building and Construction Trades students. The eight-feet tall KINDNESS letters were constructed by teacher Andie Tanner’s class at Carlsbad High School. The five-feet tall MATTERS letters were built by Dave Pier’s students at Aviara Oaks Middle School. Students representing every one of Carlsbad Unified schools had gathered on a Saturday to artfully decorate and paint the gigantic letters. Hundreds of students and residents from the Carlsbad Unified community showed up to kick off The Great Kindness Challenge 2024, witness the unveiling of the giant sign, and to take part in kindness activities. They wrote thank you notes to soldiers, decorated placemats for the senior center, made friendship bracelets for a sister school in Kenya, and other undertakings. It was a rainy and muddy day – but a meaningful and successful one as well.

Presented by the global nonprofit Kids for Peace, The Great Kindness Challenge was launched in 2012 with three Carlsbad Unified schools – Jefferson, Hope, and Kelly Elementary – to address bullying and to foster connection, inclusion, and compassion. Enrollment in the annual program has multiplied each year. This year over 20 million students in 41,000 schools, from all 50 states and 115 countries, participated In the challenge.

Carlsbad Unified students participated in the 13th annual Great Kindness Challenge Week from January 22nd to 26th, decorating their campuses and holding special “kind” community-building activities. Altogether, they performed thousands of intentional acts of kindness, such as helping their custodians, reading to younger students, inviting new friends to sit with them at lunch, and thanking their office staff members.

Jefferson Elementary was joined in a rousing pep rally by Carlsbad mayor Keith Blackburn and representatives from the Carlsbad Police and Fire Departments. Kelly Elementary celebrated with daily fun themes, including Crazy for Kindness Day, where students wore their wildest clothing and hairstyles, and Dream of Kindness Day, where students wore their favorite pajamas or comfy clothes. Aviara Oaks Middle School kicked off its celebration with Team Up for Kindness Day, with kids attired in sports jerseys, and Serve Up Kindness, with “BBQ Dads and Soccer Moms.” At Valley Middle School, the ASB made posters and chalked the walkways with kind messages, and teachers handed out coupons to students “Caught in the Act” of spreading kindness.

Also in recognition of the Great Kindness Challenge, Good Morning America featured two outstanding Sage Creek High school sophomores, Krish Reddi and James Jansen, as “Rays of Sunshine.” The two best friends have been Kindness Ambassadors since they were eight years old, and they have participated in many Kids For Peace kindness activities. They have spent afternoons with senior citizens and weekends making kindness posters. Also, they have helped fundraise to build a school in Kenya and are now hosting a backpack and school supply drive for the students there. This summer Krish and James will go to Kenya to visit the school and hand-deliver the “Peace Packs” to the students they continue to support.

“It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture every time. It’s often the small acts that make a difference,” said James. “It feels good to do things for other people, especially when you're doing it with your friends.” “We just want to make the world a better place,” said Krish. “We are all connected, and at the end of the day, all of us are living in the same world and we all need each other.”

Carlsbad Unified is proud to be the founding district of the Great Kindness Challenge. We strive to make the world a little bit brighter by educating caring, thoughtful, and compassionate young people all year long. We believe that every intentional act of kindness matters, and that practicing kindness in our schools translates into a kinder world.

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Email: cusd@carlsbadusd.net
Website: https://www.carlsbadusd.net
Location: 6225 El Camino Real, Carlsbad, CA, USA
Phone: 760-331-5000
Facebook: facebook.com/CarlsbadUnifiedSchools
Twitter: @CarlsbadUSD