By Melissa Burdock (she/her), teacher, Penticton; Harriette Chang (she/her) school counsellor, Coquitlam; and Jennifer Mitchell (she/her), teacher, Penticton
Real Acts of Caring (RAC) is about doing something caring and kind for others and not expecting anything back. Each year, RAC is highlighted by a special week, RAC Week, and the next one will be February 9–15, 2025. This RAC Week is a milestone: it will be the 20th one, and students are encouraging as many people as possible to get involved!
RAC was created by Grades 4–5 students at Central Community School in Port Coquitlam in 2005, and has since spread throughout the Coquitlam School District (43) and to many other communities in British Columbia and beyond. On Thursday, February 6, 2025, students in the Okanagan Skaha School District (67) will be holding a virtual assembly open for any classes to join. Designed for K–7 classes, this 45-minute event, hosted virtually through Microsoft Teams, is like a kindness pep rally that will leave students excited about engaging in acts of caring and kindness. This is the fifth year that Grade 7 students from KVR Middle School in Penticton have been running this event, and they are excited to offer it to all students across the province. Throughout this virtual assembly KVR students, as well as special guests, will share the science behind kindness, examples of ways to be kind, reflections on the impact of kindness, and they will facilitate interactive sharing and connections from students across the province. Information to sign up for this virtual kindness pep rally is available on the Real Acts of Caring website at www.realactsofcaring.org, as well as through ERASE BC. We hope to “see” you there!
Melissa Burdock, a teacher in Okanagan Skaha, first heard about RAC while she was a teacher in Coquitlam. When she moved to Penticton, she decided to bring this idea with her and implement it in her school. Today, she and her teaching colleague Jennifer Mitchell, as well as a number of their colleagues in the district, have embraced RAC, integrating it into their pedagogical practices to promote caring and kindness in their schools and communities.
What exactly is Real Acts of Caring and how did it begin? Harriette Chang, a school counsellor in the Coquitlam School District, explains:
In early December 2005, I had been struggling to create lesson plans that would inspire a group of students with a wide range of learning needs and behavioural challenges. I read a story from one of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books about people doing something kind and unexpected for others and not expecting anything in return. After a few moments of silence, while the students took in this seemingly strange concept, a loud and lively discussion erupted. This idea was weird, they argued, and several more minutes of discussion ensued. But then something amazing happened: they experienced a total mind shift, and before long they were planning how they could and would implement a special caring and kindness week for the whole school. The second week of February 2006 was chosen, to coincide with Valentine’s Day. But they asked why stop with just the school? Why not involve the whole city of Port Coquitlam? I was somewhat astounded by this reversal, but I encouraged them to write letters to the mayor. The following Monday morning I had 13 letters on my desk. Within days those 13 students met with the mayor, and before the week was out they had successfully presented to city council members and a proclamation was passed that a special caring and kindness week would take place February 13–17, 2006, in the whole city of Port Coquitlam. We had a lot of fun celebrating this special week by giving out coffee and cookies to community members, and at school students participated in a range of helpful activities for staff members.
After that first caring and kindness week, students continued to plan and carry out these acts in the school and in their community, often on their own time. The following September, four of the original students insisted on having another caring and kindness week in February 2007. This time they wrote more letters and lobbied with more municipal governments. They even contacted the provincial government requesting that this week be recognized for the whole province of BC. Incredibly, the provincial government agreed and passed a proclamation, inviting the students to Victoria for the hearing!
The whole caring and kindness idea became infectious as more and more students and educators became involved. By mid-spring, students and parent volunteers were fundraising and organizing events even though the caring and kindness week had ended. In the school, students were placing treats on fellow students’ desks and offering tutoring at lunch. In the community, students were visiting homes for the elderly (building a stunning garden for one of them), paying for customers’ drinks at local coffee shops, opening doors, and handing out flowers, balloons, and handmade cards with loving messages. Soon a media frenzy began, and suddenly students were being interviewed and featured in a number of television news stories, newspaper articles, and radio talk shows. The following year the students were awarded the 2007 Newsmaker of the Year by the Tri-Cities in BC. The fame and recognition were unexpected outcomes. Although exciting, the students assured one another that it was not about becoming famous but about genuinely spreading the idea of doing something caring and kind for others without expecting anything in return.
In 2008, the students decided to rename the club Real Acts of Caring—RAC, which they believed would more closely reflect their goal: to promote planned and authentic acts of caring without expecting anything in return. The students wanted to make RAC a common language in schools and communities throughout BC, and to highlight the program by celebrating RAC Week each year during Valentine’s Day week. By 2010, RAC students were achieving their goal, and schools from many parts of BC were sharing their own RAC stories with us.
RAC has continued to grow and evolve. Besides participating in real acts of caring, students have been lobbying their local and provincial governments to have RAC Week recognized each year. Students also have been invited to present at several schools in other districts and give numerous presentations, including talks at professional development days for BCTF members. A group of RAC students serve on the RAC Steering Committee, formed in 2015, along with educators and parents who meet regularly to make important decisions about the direction of RAC. In 2019, RAC became a non-profit organization.
Over the years, we have been contacted by numerous educators who have heard our RAC stories and are looking for ideas as to how they can further promote RAC. The RAC Educator’s Manual (see www.realactsofcaring.org) was created to meet that need with all proceeds going toward supporting the RAC program. Our goal is to share with you what we have learned from our students and to show you how RAC can have a tremendously positive impact on a school climate. RAC is a joyous and inclusive way for students and educators to learn and grow as they build school connectedness through caring and kindness.
Back in December of 2005, we could never have predicted that 13 students from an inner-city school (some as young as eight years old) would be instrumental in creating a program that would have such far-reaching and profound effects on so many. We could never have imagined the heart and dedication on the part of these young people to make our world a better place. Never could we have guessed that it would be they who would teach us that, in the pursuit of a dream, anything is possible.
You can get involved by promoting and celebrating RAC Week at your school February 9–15, 2025. Visit www.realactsofcaring.org for more ideas and updates.
Ideas for Real Acts of Caring in your school community
Plan an activity to share with seniors in your community.
Plan a kind act with a buddy class at your school.
Write a note of appreciation for someone in your school.
Share with a friend why you are grateful for them.
Hold the door open for someone.
Plant a flower that supports your local environment.
Send another class kind notes.
Resources to promote caring and kindness
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller and Jen Hill
Kindness Is My Superpower by Alicia Ortego
Kindness Makes Me Stronger by Elizabeth Cole
Say Something by Peter H. Reynolds
When We Are Kind by Monique Gray Smith