MENDOTA – Third grade students in Mrs. Ambler’s class at Lincoln School were given a 12-Day Kindness Challenge by their teacher, which ended on Dec. 18.

After the students did something kind for someone, they would tell Mrs. Ambler during Zoom, message her through Google Classroom, or email her. Then Mrs. Ambler wrote each act of kindness on a paper link, and each time the class met through Zoom, she would show them how much the chain had grown.

Mrs. Ambler said there were children cleaning rooms, houses, and minivans, doing dishes, helping grandparents bake and decorate for Christmas, delivering cookies to neighbors, helping younger siblings with homework, giving massages to parents and siblings, reading stories to family members, listening to friends who were sad, and many, many more kind acts.

In all, Mrs. Ambler said she collected almost 80 things that the students did out of the kindness of their hearts. That is 80 times that they added some positive energy to those around them, she noted.

“Kindness is already embedded in the hearts of these kids – I am not teaching them anything they don't already know,” stated Mrs. Ambler. “I am just encouraging them to always show kindness to everyone, and I am so proud of them.”

Mrs. Ambler said she asked for suggestions on where the best place to hang the chain would be, and the place that got the most votes was the Graves Hume Public Library. The idea came from Olivia Gallagher, who has special ties to the library because her grandmother works there. Then, Mrs. Ambler just drew names to have a couple of other class representatives. The other students were Karly Beetz, whose grandmother also used to work at the library, and Billy Bromenschenkel.

Gallagher and Bromenschenkel volunteered to make a couple of signs so patrons of the library would understand the meaning behind the students’ chain.