A group of Salt Spring Elementary School students has been named among Canada’s kindest, according to teacher Fanny Wightman — who never had any doubt about the matter.
Along with fellow teacher Christina Novak and education assistant Sue Ann Donaldson, Wightman’s class submitted their entries to advocacy group Depths of Comfort in February, alongside classes from all across Canada. The Salt Spring class was the only winning classroom in the province.
The search, according to contest organizers, was for the “Kindest Classes in Canada” to be recognized for prioritizing kindness at school — and that piqued Wightman’s interest the moment she learned about it.
“I thought it sounded a lot like our class,” said Wightman. “That’s us! We’re the kindness class!”
Students in Wightman’s class range from Grade 5 to 7, she said, and in addition to accolades will also be receiving a pizza party courtesy of contest organizers. Entries were judged by a panel of “Canadian Kindness Captains” that included noted public figures and celebrities like Superstore actor Lauren Ash, musician k.d. lang and 90210 actor Jason Priestley.
“The kids were looking at the list and going, ‘Who is that?’” laughed Wightman. “You probably have to be older to know who some of them are.”
Wightman said students brainstormed and wrote a group letter on why they should win, and some students wrote individual letters about what made the class special. How the pizza party — sponsored by Pizza Hut — will take place on an island without that franchise is uncertain, she added, but she was confident they would work something out.
“Maybe we can do a field trip,” she laughed, again praising the class. “They’re all so sweet together, and really good to each other.”