The Path to Kindness

As the snow melts and the sun shines, the last day of February brought the Grier community together to bond over the vulnerability of poetry and emotion. Through the lens of the all-school read, “The Path to Kindness,” author James Crews joined us in the dance building to encourage students to be gentle and kind towards themselves and others. 

The morning started with the weekly Grier TV broadcast, after which James Crews was introduced by the Dean of Students & Belonging, Dr. GB. Mr. Crews began by acknowledging and praising the strong sense of community at Grier as well as the positive environment within the school. “Community is obviously so much alive,” he said. 

“The Path to Kindness” includes a series of poems that inspire readers to enact kindness in the world around them and in their own life. The poems call for reflection on the important topics of self-love, understanding of others, and respect for all. Grier gifted the students the book at the beginning of the school year, and students have been slowly reading through the poems during advisory meetings. 

The assembly started with a powerful talk by James Crews in which he shared several poems from “The Path to Kindness” in order to bridge into discussions about kindness, self-compassion, and vulnerability. He shared poems from himself and other poets that focused on personal growth and the deep connections we make with ourselves and others. But the work that truly stood out was Crews’s own poem, “Self-Compassion.” In this poem he reflected on a time when he and a friend couldn’t help but laugh at a meditation teacher who called himself “honey” while encouraging his students to be gentler with their minds. Years later, Crews found himself adopting this same practice, using the term “honey” as a way to comfort himself in moments of stress and uncertainty. In the poem, he talked about the overwhelming moments we all face, like worrying about loved ones, environmental crises, or endless to-do lists, and how important it is to pause and show kindness to ourselves during those times. The message was clear: kindness isn’t just for others; it starts with being kind to ourselves, especially when life feels too chaotic.

Crews also spoke about how small, everyday acts of kindness can completely change the course of our day. Those brief, simple moments, like a smile from a stranger or extra caramel drizzle in your coffee order, can leave a lasting impact, often without us even realizing it. 

To finish the talk, he invited everyone, including the teachers and administrators, to take ten minutes to write a poem inspired by kindness and those small, everyday acts of kindness from strangers. After the ten minutes had elapsed, he called to the audience for some volunteers to share. At first, there was some hesitation, but soon, junior Sarah Kuntz bravely stepped up and shared her poem. Her courage didn’t go unnoticed, and Mr. Crews gifted her his own “Kindness Will Save the World Guided Journal” to thank her for her vulnerability. That moment set the tone for the rest of the session, encouraging others to share their own poems on how kindness has shaped their lives. The talk and the exercise left everyone thinking about how we can all contribute to making the world a little kinder, one small act at a time.

After the primary sessions, a large group of students returned to the dance building for the creative writing session that was aimed at people with an interest in the writing art form. After a brief talk, he gave everyone a prompt to write about someone who has made a sacrifice for you through small, daily acts. After giving time to write, he again asked for volunteers to read their work. Freshman Riley Benedict shared her piece and later talked about what gave her the courage to speak. “I think it was just the slight vulnerability that he had,” Benedict said. The style of the talk created a comfortable atmosphere, making it easier to share. In addition, Crews focused on pulling out the positive things each person included in their own writing, encouraging some to turn their stories into fully fleshed out poems. Benedict said, “It was just kind of calming to have someone talk or have other people read out their poems and kind of learn from other people.” 

Sophomore Bones Harraghy took up writing in the footsteps of her grandfather, and she discussed her grandfather’s impact on her in the piece she shared. The images she created with her writing captivated the crowd as she mentioned moments like her grandfather putting snakes in pillowcases so he could show them to his grandkids, teaching them which were safe. Crews advised her to turn this anecdote into a fully flushed out poem. “My grandfather [got me into creative writing] because he really liked poetry. So that’s why I started reading poetry,” Harraghy said, “and then once I started reading poetry, I started really wanting to write poetry. So it’s a pipeline.” 

The session also gave a look into the writing process and how Crews as a professional writer plans his work. Harraghy enjoyed the writing session as an insight into a prospective career in writing. “I thought it was fun to have sort of the perspective of a professional writer for people who are interested in that, of which I am one,” Harraghy said. 

The students who weren’t as interested in writing had the option to head down to the auditorium for an hour to unwind and chat with friends. Of course, they were still participating in some fun games and crafts. Girls made friendship bracelets and played bingo, but mostly they got to bond and share a few laughs. The auditorium was lively with cheerful energy from all the girls. The bright sun filtered into the large room, adding to the warm and bright atmosphere. After Crews’s talk, kindness and gratitude was very present among the girls appreciating the small moments–like hanging out and making friendship bracelets. As Crews discussed in his earlier talk, we should “invite as many moments like that into [our lives.]”