Grace Urbina performed a random act of kindness with 100 post-it notes and marker. She wrote messages like “you’re better than a triple scoop ice cream with sprinkles,” “your hair looks great” and “you’re special just the way you are” on the notes and posted them all around her school. Her reasoning? To brighten her classmates’ day.
“Insecurity starts in middle school,” said Urbina. “I know a lot of friends going through that and even though I’m not friends with all the people in my school, there are probably a lot of them that feel insecure. I wrote 100 things and posted them on the walls of the school and my classmates were really happy to see them. Some took them to keep.”
Urbina, who initially performed her act of kindness anonymously, was honored by the Miami Lakes K-8 faculty and staff that moved her post it notes into a more permanent fixture - positive posters now featured throughout the school to “spread kind loving words” as one reads.
The school’s Trust Counselor, Loretta Garcia, nominated Urbina for the district-wide award for “random acts of kindness.” Urbina won for the middle school division and was accompanied to the School Board meeting in early March by her parents and sister, alongside the school’s principal Carlos Salcedo and Garcia.
“It is a pleasure to nominate an amazing eighth grader for thinking of others at a time when most teenagers think of themselves,” said Garcia. “Grace thought of what teens go through emotionally and how they could benefit from kind words. She is truly deserving through her expressions of the core values needed to be nominated for acts of kindness.”