Ruthie Zuckerman and Gloria Montoya

“Cultivating Kindness” is the innovative teaching idea from Zuckerman and Montoya that is a mixed grade level, student-led program designed to use a variety of curriculum to specifically target social-emotional needs and trends and issues by having student leaders deliver engaging lessons to the student body. Once a month, students meet in "kindness tribes" to eat together and participate in ethical and moral discussions. Using lessons from the Random Acts of Kindness curriculum and curriculum designed by the school to combine social-emotional growth and learner traits, students engage in independent, small group and whole group activities. The expansion of the program is to include eating together, having a speaker, and inviting parents to come to the activities in the evening. The desire to share food and invite parents is deeply rooted in the mission to feed the students minds and bodies and help the scholars develop into self and community advocates, caring humans, and deep thinkers.