Student painted rocks with words of affirmation and kindness. (Photo source: Irina Luzanova and Noah Beaumont)
--------------------------------------------------------------
The painting of rocks can be traced back 25,000 years to a cave in Namibia where Paleolithic artists busied themselves creating bee petrograms (painted rocks). The history of rock painting at Tashkent International School (TIS) is somewhat shorter but the explanation for it is similar to those of early artists. Rocks are painted at TIS to inform and advertise, to provoke thought, to beautify, and simply because it’s fun.
Initiated and coordinated by the Owl Council (a service, action, and change group open to all students in Grades 3, 4, and 5), kindness week was structured around daily, whole-school kindness challenges. The placement of petrograms in locations around the school was to remind the community of the power of kindness. Rocks were chosen over paper by the Owl Council to advertise and promote the initiative as they were identified as being more sustainable, available (we’ve got a lot of rocks and stones on campus), and free.
The purpose of Kindness Week at TIS, which coincides with World Kindness Day on 13th November, is to celebrate and promote good deeds and acts of kindness alongside emphasizing the idea that every conscious choice and every act of benevolence, no matter how small, does make a difference. Aside from rock painting TIS, community members participated in kindness assemblies, held class discussions about kindness, and delivered compliment and “thank you” messages to members of faculty and staff.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Irena is the Owl Council sponsor and the elementary English-language learners coordinator at TIS. She has worked at the school for 14 years.
Noah is the assistant principal and primary years program coordinator. This is Noah's first year at TIS.
