Area elementary school students decorate kindness rocks to spread throughout community
by Mary Wilson
Stomp. Stomp. Clap. Stomp. Stomp. Clap. Stomp. Stomp. Clap.
“We will, we will, rock you! We will, we will, rock you,” could be heard
throughout the halls of one school last Friday, September 13, as students
embarked on a journey to send a message of kindness, one little rock at a time.
At Meadowmere Elementary School in Grandview, kindness
rocks. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade spent the afternoon last
week painting small rocks with thoughtful, kind and inspirational messages on
them in hopes to cheer up a stranger’s day. The rocks will be strategically
placed throughout the Grandview School District boundaries, including parks,
businesses, schools, or churches.
“Meadowmere rocks because each student is so kind, courageous,
and respectful,” said art teacher Adryan Steinberg.
When kindness rocks are found, the recipients will find
instructions on the back which ask them to take a photo with the rock and post
the photo onto the Meadowmere Rocks Facebook page. The person who finds the
rock, after posting online, is then instructed to place the rock in a different
location for another to find. Teachers will be tracking when posts are made
online and informing their students of when their rocks are found.
Students headed to various creation stations throughout the
building, making up what Steinberg called “Kindness Crews.” Every student in
the building, along with visitors, painted a kindness rock. Once finished, each
rock was coated with a shellac and set out to dry.
The Kindness Rocks Project is a national movement which
began when one woman lost both of her parents and was looking for some sort of
sign or message that she was doing things the right way. Megan Murphy, as the
creator of the project, determined that whenever she saw a heart-shaped rock,
it was from her dad; whenever she saw a piece of sea glass, it was from her
mom.
“When I would find one, I would feel like I was really being
supported,” Murphy said. Those were the moments that I really felt something
bigger than myself. But, through this process, I realized that the answers lied
within me.”
She ended up taking a marker with her to the beach and wrote
messages on rocks. That first day, she left five rocks. That evening, a friend
texted her and sent her a picture of a rock with a motivational message on it
she had found on the beach.
“I didn’t tell anybody I was doing it,” Murphy said. “It was
really odd. She said to me, ‘if you did drop this rock, it made my day.’ I
thought, ‘okay, I have something here.’”
Murphy’s message of kindness has spread, and it’s now made its
way to Grandview through students at Meadowmere Elementary School. Should you
find one in the community, take a picture, and post it to Facebook with the
instructions that are fastened to the underside of the kindness rock.