On Thursday morning, Oct. 8, students arriving at Gardner International Magnet School in Lansing saw words and acts of kindness written across the sidewalks. Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students had put the messages there with sidewalk chalk the evening before, Principal Kyle Burroughs told WLNS. The writing greeted younger classmates as they arrived and became one part of the school’s work in the district’s 517K Kindness Challenge.
Gardner held three kindness lesson classes that Thursday as the six-week district challenge entered its second week. In one exercise, students wrote down ways they could be kind during the day. Those notes were joined into a paper chain that would remain in the classroom as a reminder of the ideas they had shared, WLNS reported.
Eden, a fourth grader at Gardner, described kindness through actions she could picture: spending time with someone, giving something, or helping when a person is hurt. Her examples gave the lesson a student’s point of view, while the paper chain made the class’s suggestions visible in the room. Burroughs said the lessons helped show students different ways they could be kind inside and outside the classroom.
Burroughs also described differences she saw between age groups. Younger students often understood kindness as sharing with classmates, she told WLNS. The older students’ chalk messages took that idea beyond their own group: they wrote kind words and acts on the sidewalks so children coming in the next morning would encounter them on the way to school.
The 517K challenge asks Lansing students and community members to record 517,000 acts of kindness over six weeks. The Lansing School District’s official challenge page sets the campaign from Oct. 1 through Nov. 13 and says schools have access to lessons, activities, communication tools and implementation support. The goal is not limited to Gardner or to students.
At its launch, the district invited families, businesses, community organizations, government agencies and residents to take part alongside students. WILX reported that the effort was created by Superintendent Jessica Benavides. The report said every school would participate, with students taking leadership roles. Benavides told the outlet she wanted young people to see how everyday choices could improve their community.
The district’s online page lets people share a kindness story or add an act to the public tracker. People can record something they witnessed or add a count, making room for both descriptions and simple tallies. The district says students, staff, families and community partners are part of the initiative, with lessons and activities intended to carry kindness into everyday life. Residents can contribute beyond the school day.
The launch coverage gave examples of acts people could count: checking on a neighbor, inviting someone new into a group, thanking a worker whose effort might go unnoticed, helping without being asked, or caring for shared community space. The district page has both a story-sharing form and a separate tracker entry, so people can report something they witnessed or add an act to the count. WILX said the effort emphasized collective impact rather than competition.
The six-week campaign is scheduled to culminate on World Kindness Day, Nov. 13, with a schoolwide celebration. WILX reported that the district also plans to unveil a 517 Kindness Mosaic representing the acts documented during the initiative. The district’s page confirms the Nov. 13 celebration and provides the community tracker.
At Gardner, students had two different ways to make the challenge visible: a paper chain that would stay in the classroom and chalk writing classmates encountered outside. One came from notes written during a lesson; the other came from older students taking their messages onto the sidewalks. Both were described by school leaders as part of the same challenge.
With the district campaign continuing through Nov. 13, Gardner’s chain and sidewalk words are one school’s contribution to a much larger public effort. The account from the principal and students describes concrete acts at the school, while the district’s own page gives families and community members a way to add acts beyond the classroom.
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