Teaching HUMANKIND

When a local VA school realized that their 6th graders wouldn't be able to cap their final year of elementary school in person due to Covid, they thought of ways to make the last weeks of school as enriching and fun as possible to help allay the kids' disappointment. They invited me to 'inspire' the kids (thank you MaDiha). I spoke to the students about cultivating kindness and caring for each other; about how each one of them could change the world, right now. I introduced them to the idea that I've been developing about 'humanKIND' - how the way forward is right there in our very definition; it's who we are. I couldn't see the kids on the other end of my computer; I had no idea if they were listening or bored, whether it was resonating or if they were thinking about their snack. But the next day, I got some emails from students wanting to write letters to refugee children and collect school supplies for kids in need. A few days ago, I received these acrostics, which the kids had made using the word 'humanKIND'. I think they got it. I'm excited to be invited back to speak to the entire school of 800 students - and humbled by the opportunity to cultivate kindness in kids at this difficult time in the story of humankind.