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Manson Northwest Webster, Southeast Valley, Algona find what’s good in education

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Isaiah Daggett, 8, a second-grade student at the Manson Northwest Elementary School in Barnum, looks over the heart he earned that's part of the Wall of Hearts Kindness Challange. Since Feb. 1, students at the school have nearly filled the entire floor to ceiling heart with their acts of kindness.

BARNUM — When a visitor comes into the Manson Northwest Webster Elementary School in Barnum, one of the first things they will see on the wall by the office is a large heart-shaped collection of much smaller paper hearts.

On each one, there’s a student’s name and, written on the back, a kindness or other good deed that student did for someone else.

The large heart outline is almost filled in.

Jan Nelson, a kindergarten teacher at the school, helped organize the Wall of Hearts Kindness Challenge.

“All through the month of February we’re recognizing random acts of kindness,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Jan Nelson, a kindergarten teacher at the Manson Northwest Elementary School in Barnum, shows off the jar where the students acts of kindness are recorded on paper hearts. Once a week, the hearts are taken from the jar and added to the Wall of Hearts behind her during the schools Kindness Challange.

Teachers, other students and even parents can record an act of kindness on the hearts.

“I had one student,” she said. “He and his mom bought flowers. He gave them to a lady in Aldi’s.”

As it turned out, that woman was going through a difficult time in life.

“She said, ‘My mom just passed away, I never thought I’d get flowers again,'” Nelson related.

Ultimately, the goal is to have the acts of kindness move on beyond February and beyond the walls of the school out into the community and the world at large.

“We want to get the kids in the habit of being kind to everybody,” Nelson said.

Beyond getting their act of kindness on the Wall of Hearts, once a week a heart is pulled from the jar where they’re collected in the office and one of the students reads the kindness over the intercom. The student is also given a small gift such as a pencil.

Eventually, all the hearts go from the jar to the wall.

Isaiah Daggett, 8, is a second-grade student at the school. He earned a heart.

“I picked up chairs without being asked,” he said. “My teacher wasn’t even in the room and I picked up some stuff off the floor.”

His actions directly benefit the school’s custodial staff. Chairs off the floor gives them easy access for cleaning, and what Daggett picked up they don’t have to.

He also earned some tokens for his efforts and used them to get something for his sisters.

“I got them trolls,” he said.

Justin Daggett, the school’s principal, said the Kindness Challenge has benefited everyone in the building.

“It makes us intentionally look for positive acts of kindness,” he said. “Being kind is a choice. We all have the power to do acts of kindness.”

He too took notice that the giant heart of hearts on the wall is almost filled in.

“That’s okay,” he said. “That’s a good problem to have.”

The Kindness Challenge will also be reaching out beyond the school into the community.

“Each class has chosen a project to help someone outside of our school,” Nelson said.

Some of those include putting together bags of treats for police officers, making decorated safety pins using blue, orange and gray beads to give to officers to remind them that they’re appreciated, cards for the residents of the Good Samaritan Center in Manson and Shamrock window displays for The Villa Care Center in Fort Dodge, tied edge blankets for the Domestic/Sexual Assault Outreach Center, and even treats for the animals at the Almost Home shelter in Fort Dodge.

Nelson is proud of the fact that the effort is being driven by both the staff and students.

Another new project at the elementary school this year is the ODR Free Hall of Fame. A group photo of each grade’s students that did not receive an Office Discipline Referral during the trimester is displayed near the office.

“All these kids,” Nelson said, “they did not receive any office referrals.”

The photographs on the wall are from the first trimester. The second trimester, which ends on Feb. 24, will feature a new set of images and, eventually, those who made it all year will join those who earned a spot during the first, second and third trimesters.

In other areas of the Manson Northwest School District, the students at the High School in Manson have enjoyed success in several areas.

The students in the robotics class have gone to several First Tech Challenges with the robots that were designed and built to perform a series of tasks. The program is popular and can help prepare the students for careers in such fields as automated manufacturing and computer programming.

The recently remodeled foods kitchen at the high school has also seen an increase in classes. The students host a Restaurant for the Community on Fridays during which they prepare meals for visitors who come to the school to enjoy their culinary arts.

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