Students across the region are inspiring each other by sharing their acts of kindness on a website as part of the annual Kindness Campaign.
The Kindness Canada initiative, which has become a yearly staple in local elementary schools since 2016, was organized by Newmarket musician Glenn Marais to create and nurture an environment of kindness in schools to reduce bullying and social isolation in students.
This year, participating schools can register and facilitate their own page on Kindness Canada’s website, where they can actively log their acts of kindness and share photos of their activities related to the campaign.
Marais hopes the enhanced website brings even more participation to the campaign this year on the back of a successful stint in 2024.
“For our ending livestream last year, we had 60 schools sign on and around 300 kids live. It was amazing and it carried such great energy,” he said. “We are hoping that it picks up and more people sign up again this year.”
Currently, Holland Landing Public School leads the charge having registered and documented five acts of kindness and sharing their excitement in participating again this year.
While Marais says the new addition is about providing a virtual central location for schools to see the measurable progress across all participating schools, he was also sure to add an incentive for the top school.
The winning school that demonstrates the most acts of kindness by Feb. 26 receives a free concert, anywhere in Ontario or streamed live to their school, from his blues-rock band, Glenn Marais and the Mojo Train.
Marais and his band have been playing in schools for close to 20 years with a strong musical focus on equity, anti-bullying, and anti-Black racism. They perform again on Feb. 26 at the campaign’s climax as part of a keynote concert featuring anti-Black racism guest speaker Sydney Barton, live from the Stephen Leacock Theatre in Keswick.
The Pink Shirt Day concert will also be available via live stream.
“We have found that music is a very powerful way to inspire people and to tell a story. Rather than sit at the front of the room and talk about something for an hour, we intersperse it with music, video, slam poetry and different art forms to get kids connected and inspired about this cause,” Marais said.
For Marais, the cause is personal. Despite being involved in the organization of the Kindness Campaign since its first year, his drive for inspiring positivity through compassion among students was fuelled when he was in their shoes.
“I was one of those kids who fell through the cracks and experienced a lot of racism in schools, as well as hearing a lot of people dismiss it. My experience after graduating high school was feeling kind of lost and I have learned to channel that into learning about what happened to me and sharing that with the kids,” he said.
“When I tell my story, I'm doing it because every time I do, I heal a little more and I tell them that, too. I'm very open and vulnerable with it now, and I know when I share it with them now it's giving us strength, not weakness.”
To stay up to date on each act of kindness taking place in local schools, visit the Kindness Canada website.
To register for the Feb. 26 Pink Shirt Day livestream, visit here.
