I was in the cafeteria working and assisting the kids and a student brought a kindness note to me. I thought, “This is sharp,” and told him how much I appreciated it. The note said, “Thank you for always making everybody smile and always cleaning everything.”
It was just touching because it was a student who recognized what I do. He told me that he like how I smiled. He told me that he’d never seen anything like it – cleaning up and just smiling.
Were you surprised when you received the kindness note?
No, I wasn’t, because a lot of kids will stop me going down the hall when they are going to different classes – and I try not to interrupt when they are with teachers, but they will say, “Hi, Mr. Ike. How are you doing?” You just can’t buy that.
When I was at Landstown Elementary, the students wrote some nice letters when I was leaving. I had never seen anything like it. So I kept them in a binder and I look at that today and think this is great and unbelievable that I can make kids smile. If you can touch their heart and make them feel appreciated, it’s a great feeling.
If you were to say students anything about kindness what would it be?
I would say, just wake up with a smile on your face and just come in and go for 100 percent of a good day. If you keep a smiling face, good will come from that.