PRINCIPAL’S ADDRESS TO SCHOOL ASSEMBLY MAY 1ST, 2018
KINDNESS
You will remember at the beginning of the year that I shared my non-negotiables with you. I wanted to spend time unpacking each of these with you, one at a time, over the coming four weeks.
Before I do that, what can you tell me about kindness?
- Kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Affection, gentleness, warmth, concern, and care are words that are associated with kindness.
- Being kind often requires courage and strength. We can make difficult decisions, but be kind in doing so.
- Kindness is an interpersonal skill.
Links to our faith
- Kindness is a central tenant of our faith. The Bible preaches kindness in the Old and New Testaments.
- In Galatians, kindness is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit. These are the nine attributes of a person or community living in accord with the Holy Spirit.
- In reference to this and in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
There are different ways to practice kindness. One way to be kind is to open your eyes and be active when you see people in need. Do you notice when people could use a helping hand? A sense of community is created when people are kind to those who need help.
A kind word, a smile, opening a door, or helping carry a heavy load can all be acts of kindness. Celebrating someone you love, giving honest compliments, sending an email thanking someone, refusing to gossip or telling someone how s/he is special to you are all ideas about how to practice kindness.
I will leave you with one of my favourite quotes about kindness. It is from George Sand, French novelist from the 19th Century:
“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness”.
Remember… There are many ways to be kind and many opportunities to practice.
Mr. Dalton
Principal.
