November can be busy for students. Winter sports are beginning, college application deadlines are approaching, and assignments are perpetually present as the last few tests of the semester occur in preparation for finals. Amongst the stress and hectic schedules, it can be easy to become pessimistic. The library’s One Thousand Acts of Good aimed to increase positivity and make an impact on the school, one act of kindness at a time

The library’s program was originally inspired by the Ellen show.

“My wife is a huge Ellen fan, she’s been watching it for years and always trying to get on the show. My sister-in-law got her tickets, so we went for the day…. She’s teamed up with Cheerios and they’re trying to do a million acts of good with the show,” Media Technician Alex Esposito said

Esposito was inspired to bring the movement to Monarch. “I thought it was good to recognize the kids that are doing good things at our school,” Esposito said.

Any student could visit the library and nominate someone who has done an act of kindness. Students that want to participate could also just come to the library and pull an act of good from the box, and perform the act of good to make the school a better place.

Numerous students were recognized. For example, although he didn’t initially even know about the Acts of Good program, freshman Michael Ryterski won a gift card for helping out his classmates.

“We had to bring a book to class for LA, and a couple people in class didn’t have the book. So I went to the library and got the books,” Ryterski said.

Teachers also nominated students for acts of good that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Jack Stolt (10), for example, was nominated by a teacher for noticing a student alone at lunch, and sitting down with him.

“He’s a kid I knew from elementary school…I think we went to different middle schools but we met up at Monarch again, which is cool,” Stolt said.

While gift cards and candy bars are a nice form of recognition, acts of good are ultimately intrinsically motivated.

“You’re getting rewarded for the good acts, but it’s not about that. It’s just about kind of recognizing kids that are doing good things because there’s a lot of negativity in this world,” Esposito said.