Dunstan High School Wellbeing and Sticks ’n Stones United in Partnership group has come up with a kindness initiative to recognise and encourage people to be kind within both the school and wider community.
Committee member Madi Hamilton said the group’s baseline was to do small things to improve others’ wellbeing, mostly at school.
Fellow committee member Joel Omand said the kindness initiative was the first time they had taken their efforts outside school.
The plan was to make the school and community more positive and kind.
"You don’t have to do a big deal of kindness. You could just help someone if they are struggling to carry something or they forgot their wallet when they are trying to buy and coffee and you pay for them."
When someone was seen being kind, the students would give the recipient of the kindness a card and let them know their kindness had been observed.
The card explained the initiative and asked people to scan the QR code on it to record the kindness done for them.
They were then asked to pay it forward by doing something for someone else and giving them the card.
Filling in the questions on the QR code link would help the students track how and where the initiative was working.
Cards could end up anywhere in New Zealand or potentially overseas.
Committee member James Avenell said group operations lead Jennifer Huddleston had been a great help and worked with the students to help them place cards in businesses around Alexandra and at the school canteen.
When staff noticed a kindness they would pass out the card and that would help get them circulate in the community.
Dunstan High School principal Andrew King has helped get cards printed on a sturdy plastic which would allow them to stay in circulation for a long time.
In a few months the group will review the entries from the QR code to see show far the cards have travelled.
