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The idea, which generated more than 1,200 acts of compassion, was initiated by the school’s eighth graders
By Toni Konz Tatman | JCPS Communications
It started out as a service learning project among eighth graders at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and has grown into a schoolwide competition to see who can show the most compassion.
"It's called the Compassion Games," says Shy-Nicce Carson, 14. "We wanted to challenge everyone to be kind and to see who can show the most compassion to our peers."
Each time a student shows compassion, they write it down and put it into a folder. The slips are then put up on the wall in the cafeteria.
When students came back from Thanksgiving break, the focus was on showing compassion to their peers, teachers, and themselves, said Teela Scrubb, the eighth-grade counselor at the school.
More than 400 acts were reported that week—everything from helping a classmate with homework, to complimenting someone, to giving a pencil to a peer, to letting a younger child go first at an arcade.
"The second week, our focus was on bringing in canned goods for the Dare to Care food bank," Scrubb said. "During this time, we had a guest speaker come in from the Center for Women and Families and talk to our students about the organization and what they do. Some of our female students were very moved by the presentation."
"I had no idea that this organization even existed," said Serenity Lindsey, 13. "She was talking to us about how people come in and volunteer work with the kids and stuff. We all wanted to volunteer, but found out that we are too young, so we thought we would start this project of helping people by getting donations from our school."
Students brought in everything from infant clothes and laundry detergent to personal hygiene items like shampoo, soap, and toothpaste.
"I was really surprised to learn that when they come to the Center, they really don't have anything," said Hayley Toles, 13. "Lots of the things we might take for granted, they don't really have."
Carson, Lindsey, Toles, and Maryiah Bowman, 13, led the project by creating collection boxes and posters for donations.
Scrubb said the project goes hand-in-hand with the character education lessons eighth graders receive during their enrichment class each week.
"The first grading period, we focused on the Golden Rule. The second grading period, our focus was decision making, and this grading period, our students have learned about morals and ethics and having compassion," she said. "Our students have learned that showing compassion is connecting with another person's pain with the desire to alleviate that pain. They have spent some time this grading period learning about moral compass, the bystander effect, and the importance of helping when you see a need."
By the start of Winter Break, Thomas Jefferson students had completed 1,215 acts of compassion, surpassing the goal of 1,200.
On Dec. 19, Carson, Lindsey, Toles, and Bowman took the donations they collected to the Center for Women and Families and went on a tour.
"When I get old enough, I want to volunteer," Bowman said.
"I want others to know that compassion matters," Toles said. "It feels better when you can take initiative to do something good instead of just being a bystander."
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