By Emma Wickman
Journal intern
The second-grade classes at Friday Harbor Elementary School started a Kindness Rock Garden, in hopes to benefit the community in huge ways.
There is a worldwide movement of Kindness Rock Gardens happening right now. Organizers hope to improve the lives of people all over the world. The second-grade classes have jumped on the wagon and are on a mission to make the world a better place.
There are 60 kids in both of the second-grade classes, and they are all excited about the Kindness Rock Project. Their teachers Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Minke, and Mrs. Clark are all helping their students with the project, along with some mothers.
The kids use rocks from the beaches all around Friday Harbor, and the students and teachers, who have been working on this project since February, finally launched their garden on May 8.
While talking to Darcey Martinez, one of the Kindness Rock Garden ambassadors, she had a lot to say about the kids and the parents while putting this on.
“The kids get so excited to collect and decorate the rocks,” she said. “Their excitement level is through the roof, and it has been since the beginning of the project when we first presented the idea to them.”
The kids collected the rocks, and then a group of moms painted them a solid color. Later in class, the students first made a rough draft of what they wanted their rocks to look like, then decorated them with kind words and phrases.
“The impact that this project has on the kids at the elementary school is that it teaches them that kindness pays,” said Martinez. “It also teaches them to spread kindness, no matter how small an action.”
The Kindness Rock Garden is located at 25 Nichols Street, in Friday Harbor, right in front of Roy’s Drive-Thru.
The students and teachers hope that other schools and possibly businesses or organizations will join in on the project, and continue to add to it thus making the garden grow.
Visit the Kindness Rock Garden today and get your daily dose of kindness courtesy of the founders of the garden, Friday Harbor Elementary School’s second graders.
Learn more about the worldwide kindness project at www.thekindnessrocksproject.com.
