Kindness and love was stirred around Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) during Kindness Week, which was held from Feb. 12 to Feb. 15, 2024. Kindness Week was planned and organized and set up by the Associated Student Body (ASB).
I felt really brought together by the [paper hearts], and the stress balls definitely relieved some of my stress.
— Rylie Hannah ‘26
ASB student Naomi Shwartz ’26 said, “In the beginning of the school year we noticed a lack of participation in the spirit weeks, especially when we were asking people to dress up … so we wanted to focus on giving them simple things.”
Monday, Feb. 12, was Clothespins Day, where ASB handed out clothes pins with various compliments written on them. Dragons were putting them on their bags to show their spirit, and giving them out to their friends.
On Tuesday, Feb. 13, ASB coordinated with the Wellness Center to host a craft activity. Students had the opportunity to go to the Wellness Center and make an anti-anxiety stress ball for the week.
Wednesday, Feb. 14, brought Valentine’s Day to campus. ASB set up paper hearts all over the school containing students’ names. They were separated by the grade that students were in, making it easier to find each heart. Students seemed to like this day, because nearly all the hearts were gone by the end of it.
The last day of the school week, Thursday, Feb. 15, ASB sent out digital candy grams for all students to share and spread kindness around campus, helping ASB in their initial goal for the week.
Zac Crist ‘24 said, “It [paper hearts] exposed me to some of the names of the people at my school that I didn’t know before … the compliments clips [that] they had around school made me feel happy and welcomed … doing things like this makes the students themselves feel better and by doing that they can have a sense of accomplishment that creates a better community.”
Kindness Week encouraged participation as it provided students with everything, instead of themes that have seen low turnout in the past. The main goal of the week to give the students something to look forward to in the school day, improving morale.
At the end of the week, Foothill Tech students left to go home with the boosted feeling of kindness and love, preparing them for the long four-day weekend.
