The 8th grade class at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School (SEAS) has decided to use the month of December and the Advent season as a time to focus on spreading kindness throughout the SEAS campus. They have encouraged the entire school community to not only practice acts of kindness each day but to also acknowledge the kind acts they have witnessed by nominating them for "Shout-Outs.” 

The 8th graders then choose from the nominations and give "Shout-Outs" to those individuals or classes on the morning announcements.

“The 8th grade class knows that our students, staff and families are experiencing increased stress and feelings of isolation and frustration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But in order to truly celebrate the joyful waiting of the Advent season, we must be in a state of hope, love and peace. Research shows us that recognizing kindness in others increases a person's happiness and satisfaction. By acknowledging these acts of kindness, we believe it will help spread happiness throughout our school community as we await the coming of Jesus Christ,” said eighth grade teacher Holly Wertz.

This campaign is part of the school’s ongoing efforts to be a Ben’s Bells Kind Campus, an innovative school-based program that educates students, faculty, and staff about the benefits of kindness, and then empowers them to create a culture of kindness in their school and beyond.


For more information, visit https://bensbells.org/education/kind-campus/. 

What kinds of kindness have they observed? Eighth grader Kate B. was impressed with third grade student J. Evan, who reminded his class that it’s important to keep connecting with classmates who are currently doing school online from home; third grade teacher Michelle Buhs noticed him making a point to chat with an online classmate and ask how she was doing when the class was dismissed for lunch one day.

“I think that doing these shout-outs and giving recognition for kindness is inspiring kids to do more good things around school – it’s just spreading,” Kate said.

Her classmate Luis P. agrees, “There was a student who offered to write down an assignment for a classmate who had sprained her wrist. Kids feel special about themselves when they get recognition for doing things they didn’t have to do.”

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SEAS students are looking forward to continuing to spread kindness and recognize others for their efforts.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School is located on the Northwest side of Tucson at 8650 N. Shannon Rd.
Learn more at school.seastucson.org.