Everything A-OK at Oak Park High

SOPHIA FISCHER/Acorn Newspapers SOLDIERS FOR GOOD- Members of Oak Park High School's Peer Counseling group display their Acts of Kindness dog tags. Led by guidance counselor Debi Fries, the peer counselors handed out the necklaces to other students and had them sign contracts agreeing to become involved in on-campus causes and perform kind acts on campus when school resumes in the fall. Peer counselors at Oak Park High School are working hard to make sure their campus is filled with "AOK"- acts of kindness.

The student leaders created a program to encourage spreading kindness on campus, dubbing it "AOK Day."

Last week, peer counselors made classroom presentations about the program and spent morning and lunch breaks encouraging fellow students to sign contracts pledging to respect others and try to make a difference on campus. Wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "AOK," they handed out dog tag necklaces engraved with "Acts of Kindness." Derek Green, an advanced peer counselor, encouraged students to take an extra dog tag to give to someone else and "brighten their day."

"This is great because you get to impact the lives of students who need it the most," said Green, a junior.

Madeline Rubenstein, a freshman, picked up a couple of the dog tags and planned to give one to a student sitting alone or to someone "who looks like they need one."

"It's important to be kind to everyone," Rubenstein said.

Sophomores Alexandra and Francesca Corley signed the contracts and got their tags together.

"I know at school a lot of people are really self-centered," Alexandra Corley said. "It's time to think of someone else for once, especially at school."

About 235 students signed contracts and picked up necklaces, said Debi Fries, peer counseling adviser. She wants every student and teacher at Oak Park High to receive the necklaces and continue wearing them when school resumes in the fall.

Sophomore Chloe Fries, a beginning peer counselor, said, "It's really cool to involve our entire school in something we can all do together."

The idea to promote kindness on campus was inspired by a story the peer counselors shared about a teacher in New York who had given each of her high school students a blue ribbon imprinted with "Who I am makes a difference." She gave each teen three additional ribbons to share with others. One of the ribbons found its way to a corporate executive, who presented it to his 14-year-old son. The boy had planned to commit suicide that night- the ribbon saved him.

The peer counselors read the story together and discussed how they could make a difference, Fries said. They came up with AOK Day.

"I think all kids inherently want to be valued and loved, but don't always have the environment or the opportunity where they can make a difference," Fries said. "It was such a rewarding and fulfilling experience to see how many lives were touched and that responded to our call."

For more information about the national ribbon program, visit www.blueribbons.org.