Long Island students take on Lady Gaga foundation's kindness challenge
BALDWIN, Long Island (WABC) -- Kindness is not a challenge when it's part of your life. Students in the Baldwin School District have been trying every day since Sept. 4to do something kind for others or for themselves.
The 21 Days to be Kind Challenge was launched last month by Lady Gaga's Born this Way Foundation. The Baldwin School District is the only school district in New York to take on the challenge.
"This campaign is an opportunity to kick start a lifetime of kindness," Shadille Estepan, with the Born This Way Foundation, told students during a kindness pep rally at Baldwin Middle School on Thursday morning.
A group of several students at the school have been leading their peers in kindness activities, like complimenting each other, committing to community service projects and sending random kind text messages.
The students took to the stage Thursday to recount some of what they did.
"In my math class we went around the room sharing our names and positive traits that describe us," one student said.
"There's research that shows if you do something for 21 days it can form a habit and that habit, as I think we've heard this morning, can change people's lives," principal Tim Maher told the students.
The students received a surprise during the assembly -- a video message from Lady Gaga's mother Cynthia Germanotta, the co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation.
"Just knowing that you're leading the way on Long Island with this challenge warms my heart so much," she said. "And I can't thank you enough for continuing to spread my daughter's message of kindness and bravery."
To learn more about the 21 Days To Be Kind Challenge, visit https://bornthisway.foundation.
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