Random acts of kindness encouraged

By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer

It’s a good time to be thankful and kind. Oxford High School’s student mentorship class has designated November “Kindness Month.”
They made a calendar challenging students to do a random act of kindness each weekday this month. On Nov. 4, the challenge was “hold the door for someone today.” Today, Nov. 18, the challenge is to “sit with someone at lunch who is sitting alone or someone you don’t usually eat with.”
To do something extra kind for their teachers and fellow students, the mentorship class and social skills class popped, bagged and gave out 1,100 bags of popcorn.
“We decided with all the craziness of the year we would do something fun to give back,” explained student leadership teacher Katie Goetz.
The social skills class helped hand out the popcorn at lunch on Nov. 4 “This allowed them to interact with the students and work on their communication skills,” Goetz said.
“This event took everyone by surprise, they didn’t know what we were doing,” said Mackenzie Carter, a senior. “When we explained the reasoning behind the activity people realized Kindness Month was a bigger deal than what they thought. I really felt that this meant so much to our students.”
All students were offered (and the majority accepted) a bag of popcorn and a sticker saying “Once a Wildcat, Always a Wildcat” or “Oxford Strong” or “Stronger Together.”
“We just wanted everyone to know no matter how things end up this year we are all together and here for each other,” Goetz added.