What if our whole entire school treated each other kindly? We all treated each other with respect and you didn’t have to worry about a friend or an enemy coming up to you and saying something nasty. Simply put, kindness was everyone’s priority. The goal for the Friends of Rachel Club is to start a chain reaction of kindness.

There are five different Friends of Rachel or F.O.R Clubs. There is a sixth grade one which is led by sixth grade Guidance Counselor Ms. Rose Mittan, Middle School Psychologist, Ms. June Battersby, and Guidance Intern Ms. Christine Mejia. The second and third groups consist of seventh graders. Since there were so many members that wanted to be a part of the club, the group had to split in half. One of the groups is led by seventh grade Guidance Counselor Ms. Sandra Hacker and Guidance Intern Ms. Leigh Smadbeck, while the other is led by Ms. Battersby and Ms. Mejia. The fourth F.O.R Club is made up of the eighth graders. The advisor for that group is Ms. Mittan and Social Worker Ms. Patricia Clifford. The last group is the high school group which consists of students in grades nine through twelve. The high school set of members is led by High School Guidance Counselor Ms. Michelle Propersi and Ms. Mittan.

Ms. Hacker is a strong supporter of the F.O.R. club which has been in existence for two years here in DFMS. “The main goal of the F.O.R Club is to create a chain reaction of kindness and compassion. This is done through various activities where students reach out to their peers, their families, faculty, and community.  My favorite part of the club is the success of the activities. The members come, they’re energetic, and there is commitment shown.  The only thing that I would want to change would be connecting the four chapters of the F.O.R Club. Other than that, I think that the F.O.R Club is working out really well.”

The F.O.R Club has set an agenda to send out kindness to all of Dobbs Ferry in all different ways. The first month was focused on just the students. In the sixth grade the F.O.R Club acknowledged the students by doing a Random Act of Kindness Link Chain. Each link represents one act of kindness- either observed or participated in. The seventh grade F.O.R Club showed kindness to the whole seventh grade by sending out hand-made letters to every student.  Each member was responsible for seven or eight people. The members had to write all of the characteristics that made that person special on a card, which was then decorated and addressed. The purpose of the activity was to make everyone feel special and cared for. The eighth grade F.O.R Club had a “Mix It Up” lunch for the sixth grade students. Each member was assigned a table and each of the sixth graders was assigned tables. The purpose was to get to know the people in your grade. These activities were all successful.

The second activity on the calendar was to spread kindness to the staff and teachers. The seventh grade F.O.R Club did this by having a breakfast for the teachers. The members have decided that it would be a good, successful idea to bake for the occasion.  Almost all the students wanted bring something in that they hand baked. The purpose of this activity was to show appreciation towards all the hard work that the teachers have put towards the students.

Sending kindness to all of the families is the third act on the bulletin. The F.O.R Club votes on what activity they do for each of the four sections. They still have to vote on what the activity is, but the idea is that each student will try to do something nice or special for their families for a month.

The last planned act of kindness is to spread the kindness out to the whole entire Dobbs Ferry community. The seventh grade F.O.R Club had a vote on what activity they wanted to do to accomplish the final act. It was between going to Springhurst and doing something for the younger children in the elementary school or going to Cabrini, the local nursing home, and doing something sweet for the elderly people of Dobbs.

So far the F.O.R Club has made a great push through the Middle School. All of the groups have been trying really hard to accomplish the task of sending kindness throughout the whole entire building- the Middle School and the High School. So far the F.O.R Clubs have accomplished their goal of starting a chain reaction of kindness.