Club spreads kindness to communities

What started as a simple idea quickly grew into a club with a huge impact on the school, community and more.
The Random Acts of Kindness Club (RAKC) was first introduced to the school by sixth-grade computer science instructor Kendall Murphy, who learned about the club from a colleague in Australia.
“I heard about (the idea) this summer in London at the International Boys School Coalition Conference, which is a conference that St. Mark’s and 500 educators from all over the world attend,” Murphy said. “I thought it was so neat that I decided to bring it back here.”
To bring the idea to life, Murphy turned to Assistant Director of Admission & Financial Aid and sixth-grade advisor Kerry Schneidewind for support.
Schneidewind immediately saw the potential of the club, not just as a one time project, but as something that could grow and evolve over time.
“I love kindness, and I love that it’s something that’s so different from most of the typical clubs that the boys have access to,” Schneidewind said. “So I thought it would be a great addition, and I would enjoy helping the boys learn about how easy it is to give back.”
Working with sixth graders, Murphy has grown the RAKC from an idea to a fully operating group.
Since the beginning of the year, members of the RAKC have continuously worked hard to serve and support those in their communities.
“The boys and I came up with things that we can do to better our community, and that’s our only goal,” Murphy said. “We asked what we can do to put smiles on faces and better our community behind the scenes. At the beginning of the year, we got a list of all the retired faculty of all time from St. Mark’s, and the boys wrote letters of gratitude to each retired faculty member. It was probably 200 letters. It took the boys forever, and they had to put a whole lot of care into it. It was just really amazing to watch.”
On top of providing for their own community, the RAKC has expanded its reach in order to help those who need it the most outside of the school.
By contributing to a sole project, boys can make a tangible difference in the lives of others, even though their contributions might seem small on their own.
“We cut, tied and made scarves for the wintertime, and we passed those over to Scott Gonzalez’s wife’s charity, ‘Spread the Warmth’, and she handed those out to the homeless,” Murphy said. “For every letter we write or scarf we make, we add a chain link to a chain hanging in my room that represents all the acts that the boys have done.”
Within the club itself, two leaders have emerged: Patrick Lee and Hunter Beasley. Not only have their contributions to the community had huge impacts, but they’ve also stood out, inspiring other boys to do the same.
With other members of the club, they are planning future events and other ambitious projects to send the club’s message to more boys.
“We have a collective brainstorm,” Murphy said. “Next year, we hope to have a Random Acts of Kindness week and do something sort of similar to a leadership loop, where we’re doing a random act of kindness in middle school assembly, then in class meeting and then in advisory.”
Schneidewind also shares similar goals and a vision for the future of RAKC, hoping to expand its opportunities and outreach by utilizing other aspects of the campus community.
“I think it could only grow and get bigger,” Schneidewind said. “ I’m looking forward to continued interest, and then maybe including Telos in some way or the older boys mentoring and talking about random acts of kindness that they’ve done throughout their time at St. Mark’s.”
Through her experience in RAKC, Schneidewind has also felt huge impacts on herself, both professionally and personally.
“I think every day I get to be around the boys, I feel like they teach me something new,” Schneidewind said. “Seeing young boys be dedicated and excited to give back sparks something in me as an adult to want to do that more in so many different ways,” Schneidewind said. “It just reminds me of the fantastic community here and the pure heart of the boys. They’re still learning about what it means to give back, so it’s brought joy to my life just watching them learn about it, but it also sparks in me more ideas of the ways that I can give back outside of the club.”
Ultimately, Murphy hopes that the club inspires boys to continue spreading kindness in everything they do, forming key relationships in doing so.
“I hope that the boys could see how easy it is to come up with things to make their community better and just how one simple act can make such a huge difference,” Murphy said. “I think they want to make a difference in their community.”