By Kim Siebert MacPhail
Principal Rob Ackerman says that students at Lane School are excited to be joining Bedford Rotary’s initiative to “pay it forward.”
“We’ve met now on three consecutive days in each classroom at each grade level,” Ackerman said on Wednesday, “so we’re just getting started. This is Lane School’s part of a wider initiative; other parts of the Bedford community are doing different things for ‘Pay it Forward.’”
According to Lane School guidance counselor Jessica Smith, who—along with Ackerman— is spearheading the initiative at the school, every student has received a “Pay it Forward” bracelet and pencil to remind them that acts of thoughtfulness and compassion help create a “chain reaction” of kindness that can literally change the world.
Ackerman explained that, as part of the program, two students in each classroom will be randomly selected every day to receive an extra bracelet that they will give to a person for whom they do an act of kindness. That person, in turn, will give the bracelet to another person following another act of kindness and so on, in a “ripple effect.” The bracelets are a visual, physical symbol of how kind acts can spread and move through society.
“The kids will start by doing a deed for someone else in their class, then someone in their grade, then someone at the school. Ultimately, we want the good acts to reach beyond the school,” Ackerman said, to describe the ever-widening circle of influence “Pay it Forward” will have.
“I wish we could put a GPS on the bracelets and follow them where they go and then invite the recipients down the line to come to the school and tell the students how they got the bracelets. That would provide a concrete understanding of how “Pay it Forward” can work in the world. Kids feel empowered when they see that they can make a difference in something bigger.” Ackerman concluded.
For more information about the Bedford Rotary’s “Pay it Forward” initiative, visit the Bedford TV video from last Saturday’s kick-off event at the Town Center: https://www.youtube.com/v/yq7rwMFfFto
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