Kindness Rocks! Spreads Color and Cheer Throughout Ashland

In the past two months, Mrs. Libby Belli, a teacher at the Warren School, and Mrs. Visi Tilak, a parent volunteer and writer, organized and ran the Kindness Rocks! project at the Warren School. Their goal was to help bring the community together, in more ways than one.
To begin the project, young students and families were invited to paint rocks in the Warren art room. Kids chose from a wide array of colorful paints, and more often than not, blended colors to make their unique rock. After the rocks dried, they decorated them with inspirational words or phrases. Although the target audience for the project was primarily Warren students from grades K-2, middle schoolers and parents also decorated rocks, as well as played games to brainstorm motivational words to use.
During the first session, which was from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, fifteen children came in the first hour alone, and more came later. About 30 children participated in the second session, which was the following Friday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Some high school students also helped run the second session.
Once enough rocks are collected, Belli and Tilak will use them to make two rock gardens—one at Ashland Middle School, and one in the courtyard of the high school. They hope they will receive enough help from Ashland families and students to plant the gardens during the summer.
Tilak says her inspiration for the project came from her eight-year-old-daughter. When painting rocks for a similar activity for the Ashland Public Library, she exclaimed, “I wish we could do this more!” Tilak then decided to turn her wish into a reality.
Tilak and Belli both reached out to the Warren School principal, Mr. Peter Regan, who was very supportive of the idea. To help spread the word, he sent out news of Kindness Rocks! in an email to Warren parents. Friends and supporters also posted on Twitter and Facebook on the Ashland Bulletin.
Belli and Tilak believe and hope that this project will unify the community in numerous ways. Already it has brought together families and classmates during the painting activities. Belli said she enjoys watching the children get messy and creative while painting and deciding which motivational phrases to use on their rock. She hopes the project will demonstrate the core values of the Warren School—kindness, respect, responsibility, and safety. Tilak stressed that she believes Ashland should be doing more unifying projects like this in times like these. She said that this is a critical time for the community to bring itself together. She hopes the gardens will send a good message to the other schools in town—that is, that the families of Warren are ready to give. While she is passionate about connecting the whole of Ashland, she also hopes the project will beautify the town by literally adding a splash of color.