Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and Principals:

The Great Kindness Challenge Week: January 27–31, 2020

The California Department of Education, in partnership with The Great Kindness Challenge® (GKC), encourages all teachers, staff, and students of child care centers, preschools, and schools to participate in the GKC the week of January 27–31, 2020.

The GKC initiative, presented by Kids for Peace, is a global campaign that promotes kindness in schools. It is a proactive anti-bullying campaign that educators and students can use to create a culture of kindness. Using a customizable 50-item kindness checklist, every student has an opportunity to practice kindness and make a positive impact. Examples of kind acts include sitting with a new group of kids at lunch, thanking your teacher or principal, smiling at 25 people, picking up trash outside your school, eating a healthy snack, making a wish for a child in need, and creating your own kind deed.

One of my priorities as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction is student health and safety. The GKC supports this priority by actively engaging students, staff, families, and communities in creating a culture of acceptance, unity, and respect. We can all do our part to promote kindness because statistics show in 2018, 18 out of 100 California high school students have been bullied on school campus. This number translates into 290,000 students.

Join the 13 million students who participated in over 24,000 schools in 110 countries in 2019. You can sign up at https://thegreatkindnesschallenge.com/ and get instant access to the free online GKC tools (including GKC toolkit, checklists, translations, and more).

The GKC Kids for Peace also invites schools to participate in the GKC's global service project: make a wish for a child in another country. To learn more about the 2020 service project, you can visit The GKC Kind Coins web page at https://thegreatkindnesschallenge.com/kindcoinsformexico#.

Every student deserves to be treated with kindness and respect while attending our schools. I encourage all California schools to participate in the GKC January 27–31 or, better yet, practice kindness toward each other every day.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction

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