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A4 • Friday, February 11, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com SignalViewpoints ‘Kindness wins’ at Pacific Ridge Elementary School By KATHERINE LACAZE For Seaside Signal Students at Pacific Ridge Ele- mentary School were challenged in a unique way. It didn’t involve reading, science or mathemat- ics. Instead, they participated in The Great Kindness Challenge, a nationwide initiative from Kids for Peace that took place from Jan. 24 to 28. “Throughout the week, their focus was to be completing the dif- ferent kind acts,” said counselor Kaile Jones, who introduced the campaign at Gearhart Elementary School a couple of years ago. The goal is to boost morale and positive connections between students and their peers, teachers, family and community. After not being able to host a Kindness Challenge during the 2020-21 school year, Jones was excited to bring it back this year, although she changed it from a monthlong event to a weeklong campaign. This year, each grade level was presented with a different kindness goal, and then individual teachers and classrooms could determine what they wanted to do to focus on their particular goal. Kindergarteners and first grad- ers were tasked with demonstrat- ing kindness to others, which they did by drawing pictures and writing kind notes for teachers, staff mem- bers and bus drivers. Pacific Ridge preschoolers also created cards. Second graders were presented the goal of showing kindness to the environment and coming up with ideas to keep it healthy and clean. The goal for third graders was to demonstrate kindness to the school community. Together, they created a large poster, which is covered in hearts and a heartbeat line and reads “Health and Kindness: The Heart- beat of Pacific Ridge,” to hang out- side the front of the school. Lastly, fourth and fifth grad- ers were encouraged to show kind- ness to self. They created posi- tive affirmation bookmarks with sayings like, “I am smart,” “I am kind,” or “I am strong.” Jones also shared a character strength survey with teachers to do with their stu- dents if they wanted. The survey helps highlight a person’s top five strengths. Students who completed the survey were encouraged to put one of their strengths on a nametag sticker and wear it throughout the day. “We thought that would be a positive activity for them,” she said, adding students often start to feel less confident and positive about themselves as they get older, which can affect how they treat others. “We’re really just trying to focus on their kindness and love to themselves.” On a schoolwide level, teach- ers were encouraged to take note of students completing a kind act. The student was then given a paper link — with different colors of paper corresponding to different grade levels — to write down their act of Pacific Ridge Elementary School Oscar, a student at Pacific Ridge Elementary School, shares a Compliment Card he wrote for his teacher during The Great Kindness Challenge, which took place from Jan. 24 to 28. Pacific Ridge Elementary School Kindness and positivity took over Pacific Ridge Elementary School at the end of January, as the school participated in The Great Kindness Challenge, with different kindness goals for each grade level. kindness, and the link was added to a large chain in the cafeteria. The idea, Jones said, was “to see how many kind acts, as a school, we can complete.” Her goal was 500 links, and they had reached 501 by the end of the week, with students continuing to turn in links the following week. The Kindness Challenge was accompanied by a Spirit Week, featuring simple clothing options centered on a daily theme. For example, last Monday’s theme was “Hats Off to Kindness,” and students were encouraged to wear their favorite hat. Last Thursday’s theme was “Kindness Wins,” accompanied by sports attire or team apparel. “I tried to stick with things that weren’t too difficult,” Jones said. Meanwhile, she also tasked her- self with doing different acts of kindness to bring positivity and boost morale among staff members as well. Although the Kindness Chal- lenge lasted only a week, the school focused on spreading the message that this is more than just a tempo- rary challenge. “Kindness is something that needs to continue throughout their whole life,” Jones said. Pacific Ridge Elementary School Students at Pacific Ridge Elementary School created cards for their teachers as an act of kindness during The Great Kindness Challenge, a nationwide initiative. Pacific Ridge Elementary School Pacific Ridge Elementary School Pacific Ridge Elementary School students Winston (from left), Savannah, Isla and Chelsea share a message of kindness during the school’s Kindness Challenge. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Seaside Public Works employee ‘got the job done’ I wanted to thank Jeremy Strimple from Seaside Public Works for fixing the road I pointed out to them within a week of my email. We don’t often praise our public officials or even know what they do to help our day-to- day lives. I don’t know or care about his party affiliation, just happy he got the job done. Brenda Burch Seaside Now is the time to act on new firehouse I’ve been a Gearhart taxpayer since 1987, with 20-plus years of going to City Council and Planning Commission meetings. In 2015, Gearhart assembled a fire sta- tion committee to find the best location for a new fire and police station, going by state and federal codes for tsunamis and earth- quakes. There were three-plus years of pub- lic meetings before we presented our find- ings to the City Council. Our top choice: Leslie Miller Dunes Meadow Park. Not because it’s a park or PUBLISHER EDITOR Kari Borgen R.J. Marx PUBLIC MEETINGS has an ocean view, but because it’s close to city center, was the highest point (at the time), and was already Gearhart property costing about $5 million. It wasn’t about feelings, but about the safety of our citizens and costs. It was rejected. There was outcry by some, because it’s a park, even though it was to take up only a small portion of Gear- hart-owned park property. The High Point property came up for sale, at $3 million to $4 million just for the property. After the city spent thousands testing the ground, the owner decided not to sell to Gearhart. Now, we’re at the Highlands Lane sta- tion, a higher point, further inland and with a higher cost. The longer we wait, the more it’ll cost … substantially! I certainly hope those fighting against a new fire station all this time realize the sub- stantial amount they’ve cost Gearhart tax- payers, whether it passes or not. Five mil- lion dollars at the park then, and now almost $15 million. Next year? All City Council and Planning Commis- sion meetings are open to the public. Get the facts! Tom Thies Gearhart CIRCULATION MANAGER Shannon Arlint ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Sarah Silver- Tecza ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Haley Werst Pacific Ridge Elementary School counselor Kaile Jones introduced The Great Kindness Challenge, a nationwide initiative, at Gearhart Elementary School a few years back. She’s now implementing it at Pacific Ridge. PRODUCTION MANAGER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John D. Bruijn Skyler Archibald Joshua Heineman Katherine Lacaze Esther Moberg SYSTEMS MANAGER Carl Earl CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Jeff TerHar Contact local agencies for latest meeting information and attendance guidelines. Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., www.cityof- gearhart.com. MONDAY, FEB. 14 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. TUESDAY, FEB. 15 Seaside Planning Commission, work ses- sion, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 16 Tourism Advisory Committee, 3 p.m., 989 Broadway. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., https:// www.seaside.k12.or.us/. THURSDAY, MARCH 3 Seaside Parks Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway. THURSDAY, MARCH 10 Seaside Convention Center Commission, 5 p.m., 415 First Ave., Seaside. MONDAY, MARCH 14 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. TUESDAY, MARCH 15 THURSDAY, FEB. 17 Transportation Advisory Commission, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway. Seaside Planning Commission, work ses- sion, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., https:// www.seaside.k12.or.us/. TUESDAY, FEB. 22 Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of Directors, 5:15 p.m., 1225 Ave. A. MONDAY, FEB. 28 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. TUESDAY, MARCH 22 Seaside Airport Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway. MONDAY, MARCH 28 TUESDAY, MARCH 1 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of Directors, 5:15 p.m., 1225 Ave. A. TUESDAY, MARCH 29 Seaside Signal Letter policy Subscriptions The Seaside Signal is published weekly by EO Media Group, 503-738-5561 seasidesignal.com Copyright © 2022 Seaside Signal. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication. Letters must be 400 words or less and must be signed by the author and include a phone number for verification. We also request that submissions be limited to one letter per month. 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