With more and more schools focusing on spreading kindness and promoting caring within school communities, teachers and administrators are coming up with tons of new programs to ensure students feel emotionally supported while at school. One way my school has created a caring school community is by implementing a student service program where students can volunteer to help others in a variety of ways. We call it K.I.S.S. which stands for Kids in School Service. Opportunities under K.I.S.S. are Peer Mentors, Morning Valet, B.E.S.T. Student Leadership, Green Team, Peace Patrol, Helping Hands, and Student Council.
Right now K.I.S.S. is open to students in 4th through 6th grade at our school. To be a part of this program, students fill out a one-page application, which also includes a writing portion. They must get a parent signature and their teacher's signature in order to submit their application. The writing portion gives students an opportunity to share why they would be a good fit for K.I.S.S. It also serves as a means for the administrators and teachers to gauge students' writing and what their goals are for being a part of our school's student service program.
Once students' applications are reviewed, students are then assigned to different roles. Depending on the service option, students may need to participate in a brief training with the teacher who's advising that group.
Here's a break down on what each service opportunity entails for students and staff members:
Peer Mentors
Students who volunteer as peer mentors support other students in primary grades within their classrooms. Sometimes support comes in the form of helping with homework. Other times the peer mentor helps by modeling appropriate behaviors in the classroom. At our school, the Assistant Principal matches the Peer Mentor up with a primary grade student. We try to schedule our Peer Mentor's visit during their recess or lunch recess time so they're not missing class time. The scheduling for each Peer Mentor does take some time. We also have to keep the primary teacher and student in mind when creating schedules.
We equip our students with these mini-whiteboards to help their buddy with what they're working on in class.
Morning Valet
Students who volunteer for the morning valet help our traffic line at drop off in the morning. They keep the line moving and open the door for students as they arrive at school. They are the friendly face students see as they enter our school campus. Our campus supervisors help us monitor morning valet and support students as they greet others entering our campus. We even utilize our morning valet to help us with themed weeks and events. Here are some of our awesome valet members welcoming students during Kindness Week.
Check out the personalized shirts they're wearing from Custom365!
B.E.S.T. Student Leadership (PBIS)
We are a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports school. As part of our PBIS program, we have a student team that helps us reinforce and promote our positive behavior expectations. We call it our B.E.S.T. Student Leadership Team.
B.E.S.T. stands for
Be Respectful
Encourage Kindness
Safety First
Try Your Hardest
Our B.E.S.T. Student Leadership team helps out with our student store. This group of students distributes prizes to our kindergarten classes on our B.E.S.T. store cart.
They also help manage and restock our Student Store. One of the most important parts of their job is to lead our school during Monday morning assemblies. They start off with the Pledge of Allegiance, give some announcements for the week, and remind our students of our B.E.S.T. expectations. They especially love wearing their B.E.S.T. Student Leadership shirts that were custom made on Custom365. These shirts bring a special sense of ownership and pride.
Grab the baskets for the rolling Kindergarten store here.
Green Team
Our Green Team is instrumental in helping our school "go green."
They help students sort trash at lunchtime, teach students about the importance of having a sustainable lunch, and even maintain a school garden. When students are caught "being green" they are also given green raffle tickets and are entered into Green Team raffles.
Peace Patrol
Peace Patrol is comprised of students who help their peers problem solve and come to solutions out on the playground. They're equipped with our behavior expectations, problem-solving wheel, and orange vests. This free problem-solving wheel printable is a great way to have students help their peers resolve conflict!
The lanyards are a big hit with our K.I.S.S. student members. They wear them proudly around our school campus while performing their student service duties. We have our upper-grade students help during our primary and upper-grade recesses to help with conflict resolution. Our Yard Supervisors also help diffuse situations and offer alternative forms of support when they spot students disagreeing. Students also know when and where to utilize their whistles if needed!
Helping Hands
Helping Hands are similar to Peer Mentors. Helping Hands are upper-grade students who help model appropriate behaviors on the play yard. They support primary students and help them make new friends, follow expectations, and are a support system for making strong choices.
Student Council
Our Student Council isn't run like a traditional Student Council. Rather than having students elected to roles, we actually have students apply to be representatives of their class. This encourages student participation and gives students more opportunities to participate in school service. Student Council representatives plan spirit days, make announcements to classes, plan fundraisers, and think of activities for themed weeks throughout the school year. They also work with our Parent Teacher Association to plan events.
All in all, our Kids in School Service Program helps build collaboration and a sense of belonging on a school site. Students have pride in their school and are willing to help make their school even better.
