JAM club promotes kindness, service

JAM Enterprises at Avonworth Primary School was the brain-child of two first graders, who had the idea of creating an after-school club that would make and sell items and give the proceeds to charity. With help from their former kindergarten teacher Maureen Frew, the club was started. Since its inception in 2016, the Avonworth club has grown to 90 members and more than 24 schools have created JAM clubs, according to a Kidsburgh.org article. JAM’s most well-known product is a T-shirt with the words “#bethekindkid”, which has generated more than $15,000 for charity. As a student-led project, students take the lead in researching and ordering projects and learning from their experiences.

In addition to the impact on students who are involved with the clubs and those who benefit from the donations, the initiative also encourages other students and staff to imagine different ways to include kindness at their schools for the betterment of their communities and the world. In the article, Amy Keller, mother of a JAM member, said it best: “Kindness brings people together, and it builds empathy and perspective and all kinds of things that our world could use more of.”