Teachers have a challenging task and that is teaching students. Clubs around the school have noticed their hard work and want to pay some respect to hard-working teachers.

A kindness note is a short message that a student will send to one or two of their favorite teachers at the school to express their appreciation for the dedication the teachers gave them. These messages are anonymous so the teachers wouldn’t know which one of their students’ future or past wrote these heartwarming notes. 

“The main purpose of the notes is to show gratitude to our staff at Millard West,” counselor Katherine Van Ravenhorst said. “Each individual plays such an essential role in this building, and our hope is that the letters help staff remember how much they are valued. Students must recognize staff members for various reasons, but mainly because teamwork is so hard to support and encourage students that it is nice to reverse the roles. Students were asked to write any positive message they wanted. Some chose to draw, some chose quotes, and some chose to just say thank you. Regardless of the written letter, all notes were formed from kindness.

Being Kind is an important piece when it comes to teaching. Teachers are always looking for kindness in the classroom and on some days teachers may be having a bad day, and having a note from a student to read is all that the teacher needs to make it through the tough day.

“To me, kindness is when you take time out of your day to do something meaningful for someone else,” family and consumer sciences teacher Eliza Donley said. “I am shown kindness daily by staff and students and it means the world. I think sometimes we underestimate what a simple comment, action, or note can do for someone. I am not sure that students quite understand how much those kinds of things mean to us. I have a binder in which I keep the notes I have received from students and if I am having an off day, I look at a couple of those. They are so sweet and encouraging. So I think it’s really nice that the kids take time to make these notes for teachers.”

Having notes written by students anonymously puts these kindness notes to a different level. Students take time out of their day to make a teacher that has impacted them in their school life have a better day by just sending them a short and sweet note to cheer them up through the challenging parts of teaching.

“I felt that writing kindness notes to teachers enlightens them and makes them happy just reading the message no matter what it says,” senior Colin Ribaya said. “Even a letter from a student can impact a teacher’s day and make them feel amazing as a teacher in the heart to continue her teaching career to get feedback from students that had a fun time with the teacher. Good quality to have as a teacher is to connect with the students equally and help them with the problems they face throughout the school. Patience is a quality every teacher should have, Patience shows the students you are willing to enable them to the best of your ability. Also, having empathy in a classroom as a teacher shows the students that you can develop a bond with a student by being funny and knowing you can.”

Overall, these kindness notes are a very important part of a teacher’s day. Knowing that students notice them and all the hard work they put into teaching them makes these notes more meaningful than any other.