#Kindness4Colleen

Normally today would be Throwback Thursday, but I think I need to take a little time to reflect.

2 years ago today something horrible happened.  In my hometown, in my old high school, a teacher was murdered in cold blood by a student.  I remember finding out, calling Nick, and just sobbing into the phone.  I wanted nothing more than to run to the high school just to make sure that everyone I knew was okay.

I have many students who were in the school that day, and are still in that school now.  There are those who have graduated and moved on, and there are those who are friends with students at the school.  This tragedy has changed them.  Perhaps they are a little less naive, perhaps a little more jaded.  Innocence was taken from some of them, and that feeling of safety that Danvers always had was rocked.  In contrast, I am proud of these students.  If only for one day a year, they remember to take something so tragic, and turn it into something good.

For every dark cloud, there is a silver lining.  There is a movement started by Colleen Ritzer's best friend called #Kindness4Colleen.  Basically, people are asked to do random acts of kindness in her honor.  I am incredibly proud of how many students are participating.  It is so tough as a teacher to watch your students go through an event like this- between the emotions, the confusion, the pain.  To watch them rise above that and do good in the world is an amazing thing.

I only hope that these students inspire the adults in their lives to act with kindness as well.  I find myself on certain days getting caught up in unnecessary stress, and then perhaps not acting as kindly as I could.   However, I have preached for a long time to my students about practicing kindness in my classroom, and I hope that resonates with some of them.

Stand up.  Practice Kindness.  Carry love in your heart.  There is so much good in the world if you look for it, and I hope my students are reminded of that every day.