South Middle School students help others

For the past year a group of South Middle School students has been doing nice things for people.

Many of the actions took about a second and didn't cost a thing; others were a little more effort. Some baked cookies for the school's maintenance staff. Others bought the principal a squeezeable stress ball.

And still others asked a lonely kid to pull up a chair during lunchtime at the Arlington Heights school.

"I saw some kids making fun of another kid and I defended him," said Matt Driscoll, a South sixth grader. "I told them to knock it off. It felt good."

The "acts of kindness" idea came after the school heard a presentation last fall called "Rachel's Challenge."

The group was founded by the friends and family of Rachel Scott, the first student killed at Columbine High School. The group travels the country to inspire kids to reach out to others with caring attitudes and acts as a way to combat school violence.

All year, a group of about 70 South kids met periodically after school to plan their next act of kindness, said Emily Cook an art teacher at the school.

"The kids did things that affected people in the school, then their community, then the nation," Cook said. "It's like a chain reaction."

Cook said the program will continue next year.

On May 12, a group of about 20 kids took piles of used shoes and put them into separate bags for "Stuff for the Poor," a group that donates recycled items to needy people in Africa.

Some of the acts over the past year were big -- a coat drive, collecting shoes for kids in Africa, collecting food for the Wheeling Township pantry.

But most of the acts of kindness were small ones. Here's some examples:

• Giving the principal and associate principal books, blankets and items for their desks.

• Presenting the school nurses with flowers.

• Making anti-bullying videos, which were shown to the entire school during the homeroom class.

• Creating linked paper chains and hands to symbolize becoming caring individuals.

Sixth-grader Kevin Fraizer said he stopped some other students from "booking" a fellow student. Booking is when you knock books out of another student's arms.

"He was getting bullied and I just helped him out," Fraizer said.

Courtney Wong, 12, opened the door for other students. Lisa Geevarghese helped a friend with a broken leg get to an elevator.

Grace Campe ate lunch with a student who didn't have anyone else to eat with.

"I just moved over and said we had an open spot at the lunch table," Campe said. "It wasn't a big deal."