The positive effects have been countless, as this kindness boomerang truly is spreading throughout our school.”

Mindy Mahr, 3rd Grade Teacher at Stanley-Boyd

We are all human and make mistakes, so our class isn’t perfect, but we can use our mission of the Kindness Squad to reflect on our own behavior and see ways to improve it!”

Andrea Mahr, 5th Grade Teacher at Stanley-Boyd

On October 2nd the Kindness Squad at Stanley-Boyd school, made up of Mrs. Mindy Mahr and her third-grade students and Mrs. Andrea Mahr and her fifth-grade students, took time out of their day and from their own break time to show their appreciation for the Stanley-Boyd custodians by taking over some of their jobs. Students vacuumed, emptied garbages, swept floors, and washed windows to show their thanks for the custodians’ hard work.

Mrs. Mindy Mahr, a third-grade teacher at Stanley-Boyd, explained how the Kindness Squad began. “We started the Kindness Squad two years ago because we wanted to be intentional with showing kindness to others so that it became a habit of ours.” She continued, “Our mission became to make the world a better place. The students love spreading kindness to others, and we have invited others in our school to join our mission. It is growing and spreading like a kindness boomerang, with the hope that someday, our efforts will impact others to want to keep spreading kindness.”

Both teachers shared that in the beginning of this school year the two classrooms brainstormed ideas on how they could make a difference in their school.

Mrs. Andrea Mahr, a fifth-grade Stanley-Boyd teacher, shared the excitement the students had listing ideas of helpful and even simple ways to show kindness to those around them.

 “The idea of helping the custodians quickly made the list at the beginning of the year. The students were all in and I think it was very gratifying for them to see the immediate impact they made by doing simple tasks like taking out the trash, sweeping floors and washing windows,” she said and added that, “A lot of hands make light work.”

She explained that the Kindness Squad helps to raise expectations of behavior and hold the students accountable in her classroom. She shared, “We are all human and make mistakes, so our class isn’t perfect, but we can use our mission of the Kindness Squad to reflect on our own behavior and see ways to improve it!” 

Mrs. Mindy Mahr mentioned that the Kindness Squad isn’t stopping but they have many plans for the future, including collaborating with the high school tech ed department to build a buddy bench for the elementary playground. She described the initial idea behind the bench and shared that her class is very excited to see it completed.

“The premise behind a buddy bench is that students who don’t have anyone to play with on the playground will sit on that bench and then all of our elementary students will be “trained” to spot that student and ask him/her to play with them. Our Kindness Squad will be in charge of educating our elementary students in how a buddy bench works.” She added that each grade will also be presented the information in a video.

Mrs. Mindy Mahr is excited to see how the Kindness Squad will continue to grow this school year. She commented, “The positive effects have been countless, as this kindness boomerang truly is spreading throughout our school. These positive effects have been both intrinsic and extrinsic. Our students are stepping up as leaders.” She remarked that the Squad wants to show that being kind is cool and says, “Kindness is truly becoming part of our culture here and it feels amazing to watch and see our students growing into incredible humans! These are lifelong skills that will stick with them forever.”

Keep up the good work, Orioles!