ON THE LAST SUNNY morning before days of rain, one Catholic school gathered on its blacktop to see BMX stunts. But beyond the thrill of seeing an athlete defy the laws of gravity on a bike, the students also had the opportunity to see that kindness is cool.
A BMX RIDER GREETS ST. HEDWIG CATHOLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS DURNG A SPECIAL SHOW HELD ON NOV. 13. PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. HEDWIG CATHOLIC SCHOOL
“I hope they take away that kindness can be cool too — cool things can still be kind, and you can still have fun while being kind,” said eighth-grader Sam Burke.
St. Hedwig Catholic School hosted the Go Big BMX Air Show on Nov. 13 to celebrate World Kindness Day, which the Los Alamitos campus decided to turn into a weeklong celebration featuring skits by the student council, daily messages on kindness and a day to treat students who were caught being exceptionally kind.
“We’re celebrating Kindness Week and today is World Kindness Day,” said Principal Chris McGuiness. “So, we have an intentional focus here on anti-bullying and getting along: Creating a culture of community, support and love.”
He added: “We thought this would be a really interesting way to entertain, but also the riders are going to be speaking about anti-bullying and kindness to the kids at a level that they will understand.”
The show featured two professional BMX riders who showed off jumps, flips, tricks and even jumped over seven teachers.
“I liked when they were doing the front flips and back flips,” said fourth-grader Kelni Mizuhi.
But the show wasn’t all stunts; it was also a chance to see how you treat others matters in life — even for professional athletes.
“It doesn’t matter how good you are on a bike, if you aren’t kind and don’t treat others with kindness and respect, you’ll go nowhere,” one of the riders told the children.
The BMX show was the culmination of Kindness Week, which was showcased in the school’s main hallway filled with kid-friendly motivational messages, colorful ideas on ways to show kindness and fun affirmations that students could take off the wall to keep in their pocket when in need.
“We’re trying to build on a culture of goodness and kindness that permeates the kids, the adults, all of us,” McGuiness said.
It was activities director and Spanish teacher Jen Schnorr who came up with the idea to make a day into a week. Schnorr said that although the morning assemblies focus on kindness and being a good person, Kindness Week helped reinforce the message.
“I hope they remember that kindness is not only for one day — that just smiling at someone as they walk by can really change someone’s day,” Schnorr said. “It doesn’t have to be anything big or grandiose. You don’t have to be recognized for it, but little things can make big differences.”
Eighth-graders AJ Foy and Burke, who are both on Associated Student Body (ASB) and help put on the week’s activities, said they feel a responsibility to be role models for the younger students.
“I remember being in kindergarten and first grade, and always looking up to the big kids because they were always so cool,” said Foy. “Now that I’m in that position, I want to set that same example for them and give them that same experience.”
Foy later added, “I feel like seeing something like this is going to bring our school together. Hopefully that will make us realize that no matter what we are doing, we can always have that kindness aspect.”