With kindness leading the way as one of its core values, The Riviera Ridge School celebrated The Great Kindness Challenge with a week of heartfelt and hands-on activities.
From Jan. 27-31 lower and middle school students spread positivity with a new mission each day to help foster compassion.
In the spirit of caring, the Middle School STEAM² Elective Service Brigade set up a gift card drive to support families affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
After researching the challenges faced by families in communities hardest hit by the fires, the students chose gift cards as a crucial way to assist. They collected donations from families, and everyone in Middle School wrote cards offering words of encouragement to accompany the gift cards for families in need.
The school community contributed more than $1,600 in gift card donations.
“At The Riviera Ridge School, we believe in the power of thoughtful, informed, and student-driven service initiatives,” said Rebecca Ryser, Middle School Division and Service Leadership coordinator.
“We use a design-thinking approach and form meaningful partnerships with small local nonprofits to give our students opportunities to make a direct impact,” she said. “Kindness Week was the perfect moment for us to develop powerful ways to help our neighbors in LA with their immediate needs.”
Lower School students created thank-you cards for first responders who fought fires across Los Angeles, and Sixth Grade Service Learning students wrote cards and dropped off cookies for local firefighters, many of whom fought the fires in LA.
The school also donated a dozen refurbished iPads through its partner InteLA to students impacted by the Palisades Fire.
“We don’t take an ounce of our educational experience for granted, and we wanted to make sure we were doing everything possible to help provide young minds who faced real devastation with the necessary tools to continue their education during this challenging time,” said Chris Broderick, head of school.
To cap off Kindness Week, Riviera Ridge School held its annual Middle School dance. Proceeds from the event went to fundraising efforts for Big Sunday, a grassroots nonprofit group that helps create opportunities for service.
More than $4,500 was raised by Riviera Ridge students in collaboration with students from Crane Country Day School, Santa Barbara Middle School, and the Anacapa School. All proceeds will go directly to support communities in and around Los Angeles.
“It’s all about modeling the way and instilling a spirit of service and a purpose beyond ourselves. It’s vital to our mission and vision for each of our students.” Broderick said. “We want them to know that they have agency and can always be the helper they want to see in the world.”
For more information, email info@rivieraridge.org or call 805-569-1811 ext. 131.