At Lakeview Elementary School, kindness isn’t just encouraged, it’s part of the curriculum. Through the Raise Craze program, the students and staff embraced a schoolwide initiative that puts compassion and community at the center of learning.
Raise Craze – a kindness-based fundraiser coordinated by Lakeview teachers and staff – invites students to complete acts of kindness while learning how small actions can make a big difference. Whether writing encouraging messages with sidewalk chalk, picking up litter, preparing a meal for a family or painting kindness rocks to brighten someone’s day, Lakeview students proved that kindness is contagious.
“Raise Craze is about reinforcing the values that matter most,” Lakeview’s EdTech and STEAM teacher Jennifer Borst said. “Our goal is to have every student participate, and that’s the great thing about the program. You don’t need to donate money. You participate by being kind.”
Teachers wove kindness into their classroom discussions, and students joined in schoolwide efforts, such as the “Stuff the Bus” drive, collecting nonperishable food and home goods for St. John’s Food Pantry. That initiative, which began alongside Raise Craze, has since become a regular program supported by the school’s PTO and continues to benefit the local community.
Participation was open to all students, and classroom- and grade-level goals helped build teamwork and a shared sense of purpose. Whether logging acts of kindness online or simply sharing a smile, the students learned how empathy and generosity can strengthen not only their school community, but the world around them.
“At Lakeview, we believe kindness should be taught, modeled and celebrated,” Principal Elizabeth Blessing said. “This initiative gives our students meaningful opportunities to practice compassion while also feeling connected to one another and the larger community, and it is a beautiful reflection of who we are as a school.”
