Lake Road Elementary was able to pay for its yearbooks with kindness this school year.

The student yearbook club revived a former school tradition, after looking through old yearbooks, and held a Kindness King and Queen drive, ultimately raising over $1,850 so the entire student body could receive a yearbook free of charge.

Crowned on Friday, Feb. 23, during a school-wide coronation held in the gymnasium, the 2024 Kindness King and Queen was Maddux Salyer and Macy Mustain of the 4-6 grade span, and the Kindness Prince and Princess was Kamdyn Bailey and Norah Vernon, representing grades 1-3.

“We really wanted to celebrate all of them because we feel like being chosen as the kindest person in your class was a huge honor,” said Terri Foulks, school librarian and yearbook club co-sponsor along with speech pathologist Heather Mustain. “…It was just such a remarkable and unexpected time together.”

Each class voted for a male and female student who they felt was the kindest, and then a collection ensued over the course of two weeks in February. The court was comprised of the grade-span winners who raised the most money out of the classroom nominees. Blue Relics and Revivals donated bouquets for girls and boutonnieres for the boys; restorative practice facilitator Sarah Knight decorated the stage; and the intervention team, of which Foulks also serves, helped facilitate the student-led ceremony.

In brainstorming for the 2023/24 yearbook design, the yearbook club perused previous annuals in the school archive when it was revealed that the Kindness King and Queen event was a thing of the past, although—according to Foulks—no current staff member remembered it. The students were inspired to bring back the custom and received the green light from sponsors, who only anticipated raising a couple hundred dollars toward the total.

“We never dreamed that we would be able to cover the entire cost of yearbooks for the year and then some,” Foulks continued. Another remarkable discovery, she added, was the father of one of the members of the court, David Bailey, happened to be named the 2001/02 Kindness Prince back when he was in first grade – like his son Kamdyn.

Kindness nominees also included Reese Aldridge, Jasmine Brooks, Beau Flores, Josiah Johnson and Evyn Webb of grade one; Jaxon Hulsey, Kinsley Johnson, Marcus Johnson, Aaron Salyer and Thea Wyatt of grade two; Levi Agee, Judy Henry, Honesty Jackson, Trentize Lane, Eli Newman and Remi Riefle of grade three; Adalynn Baker, Jacob Frey, Erin Parks and Carson Strenfel of grade four; Max Durden, Avery Newman and Kayden Robbins of grade five; and Allison Barker, Kolten Nicholson and Sophia Spell of grade six.

“Their commitment to spreading positivity and compassion undoubtedly makes a significant impact within the school community,” special education teacher Adriann D’Amico wrote on the Lake Road Facebook page. “Let’s celebrate their efforts in fostering a culture of kindness and empathy for all!”

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Cutline: Lake Road’s 2024 Kindness court featured (left to right) Kamdyn Bailey, Maddux Salyer, Macy Mustain and Norah Vernon as part of the coronation held Friday, Feb. 23, in the gymnasium.