Teaching Kindness Through Innovative Curriculum in Schools

Red Wing, Minnesota — Each year, the U.S. invests hundreds of billions in education focusing on reading, writing, and math. Yet, teaching kindness is often overlooked. Some schools, however, incorporate kindness into their curriculum.

Kindness 101 is a program that utilizes heartwarming stories from CBS News’ ‘On the Road’ series to promote kindness and character development. These stories are coupled with lesson plans developed by Character Counts!, a nonprofit at Drake University in Iowa.

“We are creating curricular resources around these stories that highlight the best of our nation, offering them to educators for free,” stated Scott Raecker, executive director of Character Counts!

One of the most rewarding experiences for CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman is visiting classrooms involved in the Kindness 101 program. For instance, Neil Lahammer’s third-grade class at Burnside Elementary School in Red Wing, Minnesota, is especially memorable. Lahammer is one of over 100,000 teachers utilizing Kindness 101 in his teaching.

The accessible lessons at Kindness101.com inspire millions of children worldwide with values of kindness and character. According to Lahammer, the impact of these lessons is evident when students start mimicking positive behaviors seen in the videos. “When I see students duplicating what they’re seeing in the videos, as a teacher, that’s gold,” he remarked. A student added that these lessons inspire personal growth.

The influence of Lahammer’s classroom extends beyond individual changes, largely through the efforts of the Kindness Club he initiated. Students willingly sacrifice their recess time to organize food and glove drives and spread kindness throughout their school.

“It’s just amazing the way these kids want to help out others,” said Lahammer. He even shares his expertise by training other educators in his district to effectively use this curriculum, fostering a community of kindness superheroes.

Lahammer received recognition for his significant contributions as the first Kindness 101 National Teacher of the Year, an accolade presented during a gala in Des Moines, Iowa. This award will be an annual tradition, celebrating dedicated educators in this field.

“He makes me smarter and he makes me happier,” a student expressed about Lahammer. “He’s my whole world.”