RAK: Collect Food

During my first few years of teaching, I read a book by Ron Clark called The Essential 55. Besides being an extremely entertaining story, Ron talks about 55 'life rules' that he imparted to his students each year. 

The one rule that really stood out to me was Rule 11: "Surprise others by performing random acts of kindness. Go out of your way to do something surprisingly kind and generous for someone at least once a month. " My students and I decided that we would brainstorm and do a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) each month at our school and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of our year. While not technically *random,* these act were a great way to teach my students the value of being kind to others.

Want to join the club? Each month, we are going to highlight a different RAK that you can do with your class. You can choose to do this or any RAK of your choosing. Don't forget to come back and share with us how it went! 

Whoops! I just realized that I hadn't done a Random Act of Kindess idea this month! So sorry! Here's a simple one for you to do during this holiday season:

This month's RAK:

Collect Food For a Local Food Pantry

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Here's some tips for doing this RAK: 

• Call a local food pantry and find out what kinds of food they are collecting right now. 

• Check with your principal that this extra 'fundraiser' is okay. You never know, the school might already be planning on collecting canned goods and you could just tag-team on that project! 

• If possible, have a representative from the food pantry come to the classroom to collect the food so they kids can put a real face to their project. Better yet, if your school is within walking distance of the food pantry, have the class walk the food down there themselves.

It's your turn now! Go brainstorm a RAK with your class or use the one found here. Then come back and tell us how it went! 

Do you have a good RAK idea? I'd love to hear them! You never know...they might just be featured on YTA in the future :)