SAN BENITO — It’s a rough world out there, but local students spent all week focusing on kindness.
One single act of kindness a day can spread even to the darkest parts of the world.
Kindness can be shown in a multitude of ways, such as holding the door open for a stranger, saying “yes ma’am” or “no ma’am,” or stopping someone from getting bullied.
It’s the simple things that don’t take much time to be a decent person in this world.
Kindness is something everyone can share with one another.
This past week, the students and teachers at Berta Cabaza Middle School participated in Random Acts of Kindness Week. Its aim is to spread kindness beyond just one week.
Every day, the students and teachers participated in different shows of kindness.
Monday, teachers wrote what made a student special. Tuesday, students wrote the name of the person who inspires them.
Wednesday, students wrote special notes to their peers.
Thursday, they wrote about who they admire.
And Friday, students were encouraged to commit a random act of kindness.
Every little note was written on a paper heart and secured to an enormous display for the whole world to see.
It’s moments like these that make students like seventh grader Kaydence Thrailkill, 12, a better person.
As the president of the military science club, Kaydence said her role as a leader is important.
She said she is continuously helping her teachers and fellow students.
“We help around the school and we help the teachers,” Kaydence said. “If we see something going on like bullying, we will tell them to stop.”
For seventh grader Felipe Estrella, 13, it’s simple.
“We need to be nice to everybody,” he said. “We need to respect everybody.”
Felipe, who loves helping people, encouraged everyone to lend a helping hand to those in need and to take care of those who can’t care for themselves.
“It makes me happy,” Felipe said.
National Honor Society member and eighth grader Celia Salazar, 14, said helping her community is a requirement but she really does it for fun.
Helping others has taught Celia many lessons.
“We’re all the same and if someone needs help, you should help them,” she said. “It’s a good feeling.”
Celia plans to be a psychologist when she grows up. “I want to help people with their problems,” she said.
One aspect the students can agree on is that there is no tolerance for bullying.
“It’s not right,” said sixth grader Nathaniel Vega, 11.
Nathaniel, who is no stranger to stopping bullying, said when he sees someone being bullied, he stops it.
“When I see someone getting bullied, I feel sad. But then I go and I help them and I feel better knowing that I helped that person,” the future police officer said.
“Everyone should be treated equally; there shouldn’t be any bullying on campus. Everyone is their own unique person and so they need to be treated equally.”
