Often those who are kind don’t get the recognition they deserve. To fix this the Battle Youth Kindness Ambassadors would like to celebrate our kind students and staff. This is the first year of the Caught Being Kind campaign. If you notice someone being kind, fill out a form for them with the link in your Spartan Mail to possibly be honored by getting their handprint on a ceiling tile near the new “People You Can Look Up Too” mural. Even if it was a small act of kindness, every little gesture counts. 

  The Youth Kindness Ambassadors (YKA) organization is a community wide effort to help create a culture of kindness in Columbia. The group is supported by Children’s Grove, a local non-profit organization that was started by concerned citizens in our community as a response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012. 

The idea for the Caught Being Kind Campaign came from a brainstorm between Nadia Lake, President of YKA and other YKA members.

“The idea being that often in school we award and recognize our great athletes and academically advanced students more than the kind people who make our school better.” Lake mentions.

Students like sophomore Max Doolady approved of rewarding kind students and staff for small acts of kindness, but also believe that everyone should be kind whether they receive a reward or not.

“Being kind helps keep the school together and overall makes everyone feel appreciated and safe at Battle, but I believe everyone should try their best to be kind even if they don’t get some form of reward for it” Doolady says. 

  Caught Being Kind is a YKA program that is unique to our school. The Caught Being Kind award is given to those under recognized kind people in our community. YKA members wanted to start a recognition program that helped develop a culture of kindness at our school. 

The award gives our Battle family the opportunity to recognize students and staff who share kindness with others. Those who receive the award will be honored by having their handprint and name memorialized on a ceiling tile above the two YKA wall murals next to the commons area.

 “Caught Being Kind is Battle YKA’s way of recognizing those who share our culture of kindness, because in the end – kindness changes everything.” YKA Liaison, Matt Leuchtmann said.

Help make history at Battle by filling in a form when you see an act of kindness, all little gestures count.