Panelists, speakers, and performers encouraged students and teachers to be kind to one another and provided insight on how to persevere through hard times during ToBeKind Day Friday, March 22.
Kindness Club presented North’s fifth annual Kindness Day celebration which hosted inspiring talks on how to be kind and how to spread kindness at North during a, b,c, e, g, and f-block.
“Kindness goes with you everywhere,” Senior Pastor of the United Church in Waban, Stacy Swain said during b-block. “In a world of competition, the best thing you can be is kind.”
Swain added that there are many ways to be kind, including by practicing mindfulness, looking at people with eyes of kindness, and demonstrating kindness through words, thoughts, and actions.
Community member Rhys McGovern, a panelist in a discussion c-block about overcoming obstacles, explained that when he began to lose his hearing at around 17 years old, he found helping others pulled him forward. “My family and friends definitely encouraged me to stay positive.”
He added, “There was a girl in the neighborhood that was deaf and none of the neighbors could communicate with her, so they enlisted me to help teach them sign language.”
The entire neighborhood started to attend McGovern’s community lessons on how to sign.
“I think that helping this neighborhood learn and come together so we can teach them how to communicate with a deaf child is the definition of kindness,” McGovern said.
Jill McNeil, Mcgovern’s neighbor who was also on the panel, added that McGovern “ showed us what kindness is.”
Other speakers and performers also took the stage to share their thoughts on kindness. Two podcasters from WBUR’s Kind World podcast, Andrea Asuaje, and Yasmin Amer discussed the life-changing aspects of acts of kindness g-block.
The podcasts feature stories such as a woman whose father was a serial killer and how her third-grade teacher gave her the confidence to believe in herself.
To wrap up the day in f-block, DJ Fadayz returned for his fifth year of ToBeKind Day to motivate students to be kind and embrace who they are.
“It’s not where everybody’s heads at, so it’s where your head should be at,” he said, speaking about individuality and kindness can turn anybody’s day around. He concluded by adding, “how you act towards other people is a reflection of yourself.”
