Students at Tidioute Community Charter School took that lesson outside the walls of their school as part of a National Kindness Day initiative on Feb. 16.

That played out in a way that was also flush with learning opportunities.

“Students in grades K4 – 12 participated in a variety of activities that involved showing kindness to others,” Heather Cass, office secretary, said.

“As part of this celebration, two TCCS teachers led a group of 13 high school students in hosting a Community Soup Kitchen,” she explained.

Photo provided to the Times Observer Woodworking students made custom clocks for local veterans as part of a kindness initiative. In the photo are, from left, Cameron Kibbey, Kassedy Kibbey, Grace Griffin and Logan Sabella.

The menu included no-bake cookies, chicken noodle soup, broccoli cheddar soup, crackers, and a variety of drinks with both dine-in and take-out options.

“Students spent the morning decorating the venue as well as preparing all of the food from scratch,” Cass said. “They learned tricks of the culinary trade like skimming for impurities, large and small dice knife cuts, and proper handling and storage of ingredients.”

All of the food was then transported to the venue and served to the community between noon and 2 p.m.

“The event was well-received by the community and all donations will go to a local soup kitchen,” Cass said. “Tidioute Community Charter School would like to express their sincerest gratitude to the community for making this endeavor a huge success.”

Students in Mrs. Shettler’s history classes worked on a project to provide blankets for children in foster care.

Mr. Irons’ science classes made dog toy ropes to give to animal shelters.

Woodworking classes at the school also got involved.

Students in those classes built custom engraved clocks made of maple and cherry.

“The clocks were custom engraved for each veteran with their branch served,” Cass said. “We truly appreciate the sacrifices that these Americans have made for our country and wanted to recognize them for their service.”

“We had a lot of great projects the kids did that day,” she added.