Random Act of Kid-ness: SPPRAK
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Terre Haute, IN, where students at Dixie Bee Elementary School participated in a new program yesterday by SPPRAK. SPPRAK is short for Special People Performing Random Acts of Kindness and is a nonprofit that helps improve its community by supporting groups that need extra funding.
The program at Dixie Bee lets students leave sticky notes on a large banner in the school’s front hallway that note random acts of kindness that their peers had done. These random acts of kindness have included holding the door for someone, helping draw a picture, and sharing lunches. “In just a few seconds, Dixie Bee students had posted about two-dozen “random acts of kindness” on the banner, which is in the school’s front hallway.”
We think this is a great, visible way to get all students involved in spreading and sharing random acts of kindness!
To read more about this story and SPPRAK, click here.
Random Act of Kid-ness: Teen Olympian Rises Above Bullies
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from London, where 18 year old Zoe Smith stood up to bullies on Twitter and rose above negative and hurtful comments. Zoe is an Olympic weightlifter who was bullied along with her teammates for being unfeminine and unattractive for having too many muscles. Zoe said:
“The obvious choice of slander when talking about female weightlifting is how they’re unfeminine and girls shouldn’t be strong or have muscles. This is wrong. Maybe they’re right — in the Victorian era. To think people still think like this in 2012 is laughable!”
We are proud of Zoe for believing in herself and for having the POWER to stay strong- physically and emotionally. You can read more about her story here.
Speaking of power… can you use YOUR power to give the gift of play to 2,500 students?
The Zimmer Children’s Museum believes that every child has the power to make this world better. At the Zimmer, it is our mission to help children realize what their powers are and how to use them to make a difference. Early childhood educators and pediatricians alike recognize the power of play in developing a child’s sense of self and understanding of how they fit into the world. In addition, though, on a visit to the Zimmer Children’s Museum, students explore exhibits and programs that focus on giving back, kindness and compassion, and cultural sensitivity. These programs highlight how children may put their own power into action — learning to be heroes to their friends, communities, and planet.
We hope you will put your power into action to help us reach our $25,000 goal to support field trips to the museum this school year. For just $10, you can sponsor a Head Start student’s visit to the Zimmer. $100 gives 10 students this meaningful learning experience. $250 sponsors an entire field trip for a Head Start class. Please be a hero of the Zimmer Children’s Museum by making a contribution and by telling your friends how easy it is to help create a more compassionate tomorrow.
Because the world can never have enough heroes.
If you can help, please donate here. THANK YOU!
Random Act of Kid-ness: Petition to End the Sexualization of Girls in the Media
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Walterville, Maine, where 14 year old Julia Bluhm started a petition on Change.org to get Seventeen Magazine to stop manipulating images of girls’ bodies. Manipulated images can contribute to eating disorders, depression and low self-esteem among girls as young as 8, so Julia hoped that her petition would help curb some of these very serious problems.
Her petition worked, because magazine editor Ann Shoket has made a promise to Julia that if Seventeen does manipulate images, they will post before and after pictures on the magazine’s Tumblr for full transparency. Shoket also wrote up a “body peace treaty” that says the magazine will always feature healthy girls and models, regardless of clothing size.
While Julia and her fellow bloggers and petitioners do not see Ann’s response as a total victory, they are working hard to make even more progress. They have already started another petition targeting Teen Vogue.
We love when kids take a stand for what they care about! Read more about Julia’s story here.
Do you know a kid working hard for what he or she believes in? Let us know!
Random Act of Kid-ness: Polished Girlz
This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes from 10 year old Alanna Wall, who started an organization called Polished Girlz to serve girls with special needs. She has youth volunteers paint the nails of girls with special needs to not only make them feel beautiful and empowered, but also to remind them to wash their hands to reduce infection rates.
The Polished Girlz serve a variety of communtiy organizations and support groups. It is our goal to “Polish” girls with Special Needs all over the United States and Abroad. We are excited that such a simple act of love can bring such happiness to both the clients that we serve and the youth volunteers that serve them. As an organization, the Polished Girlz seek to empower not only their clients, but their volunteers, by offering them opportunities to improve the quality of life, build invaluable leadership skills, and providing them with opportunities for community service.
How great is this organization? As always, if you have a suggestion for next week’s Random Act of Kid-ness, let us know by commenting on this post!
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“Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness – both the ones you have received and the ones you have given – you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter.” -Dawna Markova
