‘Kindness Ninjas’ leaving their mark

Students finding, sharing ways to be kind in quiet, sneaky ways

Ninjas are on the prowl in the Perry School District.

But these ninjas aren’t the mercenary, covert warriors out of feudal Japan. Instead, they’re first-grade students who, under the guidance of teacher Jessica Miller, are working on spreading kindness to others in “sneaky and quiet” ways.

According to Miller, Kindness Ninjas don’t want to be noticed, they simply perform kind acts because it’s the right thing to do.

These acts, Miller detailed, can be as inconspicuous as holding a door, leaving a positive note on a desk for a fellow student or helping someone pack to go home at the end of the day.

“The acts of kindness are small, and some of the most meaningful acts of kindness are simple words,” said Miller, who incorporates weekly character development lessons throughout the school year. Recently, student Easton Wilkinson, with the help of his mother, Heather Gray, brought in supplies for the class to paint and hide kindness rocks throughout the district. If a student happens to find a rock, they are encouraged to post a picture of where they found it on boundangels.net. The person who finds the rock can then hide it somewhere new to pass the discovery on.

Gray holds the project close to her heart as she is the older sister of Myka Gray, a Perry graduate who was killed in a car crash last May with her best friend Kayleigh O’Brien. Both girls were college students and studying to become teachers. Boundangels.net serves to keep the memories of Myka and Kayleigh alive by providing a $1,000 scholarship to two graduating students attending Perry High School. The site, run by Gray, states that the two recipients “.... will be able to complete what Myka and Kay were not.”

Myka was studying to become an intervention specialist, which was Miller’s first job at Perry Local Schools.

“When I first met Heather and Easton, and learned about their connection to Myka and Bound Angels, I knew I had to find a way to incorporate this into my classroom,” Miller said. “Thanks to the support of Heather, we’ve been able to talk throughout the school year on different topics, all centered around spreading kindness and treating people of all shapes, sizes, colors and learning styles with respect.”

Those wishing to provide donations to the scholarship can either follow the link on the website or simply make out a check to “Perry Foundation” with “Bound Angels” written in the memo section.

Donations can be sent to: Perry Foundation, PO Box 103, Perry, OH 44081.

Visit boundangels.net to learn more.

SUBMITTED Perry Elementary School teacher Jessica Miller, with Easton Wilkinson, are helping to spread kindness with painted rocks from boundangels.net.