Underground Kindness ripples through community's schools

By DAVID GUNTER

Feature correspondent

SANDPOINT — Kindness. Compassion. Self love. These are lofty ideals that, all too often, are hard to put into practice. Especially so for overwhelmed adolescents who not only have to make their way through the minefield of being a teenager to begin with but, in these times, have to do so under the often cruel scrutiny of social media.

Enter Underground Kindness, a non-profit organization that has managed the tricky balancing act of getting through to kids while also supporting the educators who work with them. It’s a combination that has sparked a large uptick in the number of hours that the group’s presenters now spend in the classroom.

“We’ve increased the number of classes we offer,” said Underground Kindness board member Lisa Bowman. “We’re at about 400 classes now.”

That tally, based on the recently wrapped up 2016-’17 school year, represents what founder and development director Lindy Lewis called “a newer layer” for the organization. Drawing from a database of about 25 trained presenters — known as “compassionists” in UK’s world — the non-profit responds when classroom teachers are in a bind. The instructor selects from an expanding roster of classes and things move quickly from there, according to Lewis.

“We bring in a compassionist, rather than a sub, for hard-to-fill classes,” she said. “We’re being used more and more for that.”

To be clear, this is not a throwaway replacement for a substitute teacher, nor is it a kind of free time for students. If anything, having an Underground Kindness presenter at school requires students to dig deeper and work harder — in different ways.

Backing up — if only because the very name “compassionist” can seem a little bit squishy as far as depicting what they actually do — the group uses the term to describe its stable of professionals, experts and teachers in the community who share “their knowledge and life experience to inspire and offer students practical tools and techniques for healthy, more balanced living.”

In the beginning, those individuals were drawn from a small pool of volunteers. As the program has evolved, a bigger cross-section of the community and a larger pool of experience has been put into action.

“Now, it’s become a little more sophisticated and we have a formalized compassionist training program,” Bowman said. “What we want to do is combine learning with an impactful experience.”

One of the earliest class offerings — and still one of the most popular — is the movement and yoga class, which Lewis also teaches on Saturdays at the juvenile detention center. Not steeped in any religious belief system, the instruction is designed to allow harried teens to slow down, release stress and learn strategies for how to “unwind the mind.” In other words, the practice lets them use deeper awareness of the physical body as a foundation for mindfulness and calm.

“Kids are defined by the external, but the richer connection is all in here,” said Lewis, pointing to her heart. “Drama’s big at this age. We give them tools to help navigate that drama.”

As the number of students impacted has climbed, Underground Kindness has further codified both its training for presenters and its organizational structure, adding executive positions in operations and content creation.

And as word spreads, classes have been added at Sandpoint Middle School — a prime age group, as far as reaching kids at a defining moment in their lives.

“That’s really the demographic we need to hit,” Lewis said. “We’ve dabbled at the middle school before, but now the teachers are more aware of us and they realize there’s a need. The kids are ripe for it.”

Getting through the teen-age years has always been a rocky road, but the journey might be more difficult for today’s kids. In the past, the bullies were encountered at school, whereas they now lurk online and spread their poison on social media.

“The negativity is getting worse and it’s getting harder,” said Bowman.

“And that’s the value of our program — teaching kids to stay solid in their own story,” Lewis added.

One of the toughest jobs is to get underneath the protective armor and start countering the internal dialog many students have with themselves. From there, the program creates a safe space where students can start to build communication skills, hear the stories of others and develop empathy and “authentic connection,” the founder explained.

“I’m so optimistic about these young people, because they want to engage; they just don’t know how,” she said. “Once they learn, it’s amazing how they open up.”

When quizzed on what their greatest challenges are as teenagers, students have responded that bullying is, indeed, a major hurdle. Nearly 60 percent of kids placed it close to the top of their list of concerns, second only to homework for how it affects their lives and creates stress. You can lump self-bullying into that category, Lewis noted, because teens have an unerring ability to beat themselves up.

As part of the process, compassionists work with kids to explore the power of gratitude, including things about themselves that make them grateful.

“It’s a love loop,” said Lewis, adding that the ability to love yourself creates a ripple effect that makes it easier to accept and relate to other people. “But my number one block, when I teach this, is that kids can’t come up with something to appreciate about themselves.”

Ah, but overcoming blocks is what Underground Kindness compassionists do best, as witnessed by exit surveys from students. About 55 percent said they were more aware of how to manage stress after taking a class, while 58 percent said they felt more hopeful and empowered and 59 percent stated that the tools would be useful in their life.

All of which has not been lost on school counselors and administrators, who not only see the value in the program, but also have come to embrace it in their schools. Underground Kindness has bolstered this relationship by designing curriculum that ties directly to “the messages and language already being taught at our school,” said Jessica Lippi, a counselor at Sandpoint Middle School.

Tom Albertson, principal at Sandpoint High School, sees the ripple effect benefiting students and staff alike.

“The varied courses center on anti-bullying, self-acceptance, gratitude and stress management,” he said. “Students and teachers appreciate the opportunity to learn more about who they are and to channel their energy to better themselves, their school, and the community of Sandpoint.

“It is my opinion,” Albertson concluded, “that students come away from a class presentation inspired, uplifted and with a positive attitude.”

As the work of compassionists fans out and a greater number of classes means more chances to make a positive difference, Underground Kindness strives to play an active part in education and, as Lippi puts it, “balance academics with a ‘whole child’ approach” to learning.

Bowman understands that the non-profit’s work in schools is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Still, she insists, it’s a piece that can’t be left out.

“We know we can’t be with these kids every day and say, ‘You know what that person wrote on social media? Don’t believe that,’” she said. “But the right answer is not to do nothing. We have to do something.”

Underground Kindness, which pays a nominal honorarium to its presenters, offers its menu of classes to schools at no cost.

“We’re self-funded,” Lewis said. “All of the money is privately raised.”

To help fill those coffers, the organization is holding a fundraiser on July 8, from 5:30-9:30 p.m., at Shangri La at the Lake, located at 116 Bella Circle, in Sagle.

The lakeside event will feature dinner and dancing to live music, as well as live and silent auctions. Tickets are $60 for individuals, $100 per couple and $1,000 for a table of 10, available online at: www.shangrila2017.eventbrite.com

For more information on the program or to learn about how to become a compassionist in local schools, call 208-255-8082 or visit: undergroundkindness.org.