The focus was firmly on kindness this past week on the Escalon High School campus, with the selection of some royalty and lots of opportunities to be kind to others.
There were also dress up days to go along with the kindness themes. Monday, Feb. 9 was Pajama Day: Don’t Sleep on Kindness; Tuesday was Camo Day: Don’t Hide from Kindness; Wednesday was Jersey Day: Score Points by Being Kind; Thursday was Pink and Red Day: Love Being Kind; and Friday, Feb. 13 was Purple and Gold Day: Cougars Are Kind.
Escalon’s PIT, Peer Interaction Team, hosted the Kindness Week, held just before Valentine’s Day and a weeklong break from school, with no classes from Feb. 16 through Feb. 20.
“We’ve done a few activities on campus to spread the message,” PIT Advisor, teacher Erin Northcutt said of sharing kindness. “It could be something as simple as doing a favor, giving a compliment.”
There were also some lunchtime activities during the week, including cornhole games and giveaways.
“We passed out Kind bars to the staff with some handwritten notes,” Northcutt said of the PIT members. “The notes thanked them for making our campus a better place.”
Also, the week included the selection of a Kindness King and Queen, both from the student body and the high school staff.
Last year, Northcutt was named as the Kindness Queen while teacher Steve Largent was the Kindness King, as voted on by the students.
“This year PIT wanted to recognize students, too, and extended the voting to the staff,” Northcutt explained.
The honorees for 2025 were staff members Paul Anserlian as Kindness King and Emme Altamirano as Kindness Queen. The students selected were both seniors, King Zach Wells and Queen Olivia Aceves.
Northcutt is in her second year as the PIT advisor and there are 24 students in the class, which she said is a little higher than normal.
“Usually, we have around 20 but after COVID we’ve just had more referrals for kids who are struggling with anxiety and stuff like that so we are trying to be more accommodating to meet that need,” Northcutt explained.
PIT is recruiting for next school year right now, and Northcutt said they take applications from sophomores through seniors.
“The kids need to have a genuine interest in helping others,” the advisor said, adding that they also must meet the grade point average requirement, since many of the kids referred for a PIT buddy need a little extra help academically. “It is a big time commitment; there’s a lot that goes into the class, outside of class time.”
Students in PIT can be paired with buddies on the El Portal, Dent and Van Allen campuses, working with them in a one-on-one situation while providing a listening ear, helping with homework, maybe playing a little basketball or just being a friend.
“They’re out there doing the work … that’s important.” Northcutt said.
