Students from the Niantic Center School in East Lyme are aiming to turn the world into a kinder place.

At recent assembly, second-graders, dressed in pink, red and purple, led the school in a celebration of kindness with songs, skits and messages.

"Do you know what kindness is?" asked one student standing at the front of the Niantic Center School cafeteria to classmates, teachers and parents gathered at the assembly. "Kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate."

The school-wide assembly began the "Kindness Project." As part of the initiative, students collected items, including canned goods and other non-perishable food items, as well as scarves, mittens and hats for Care & Share of East Lyme. The second-graders will deliver them to the agency and hope to fill a school bus with their donations.

Second-grade students painted rocks with messages of kindness - such as "peace," "love," or "smile" - and were going to leave them in places around town, said NCS second-grade teacher Diane Swan.

At the assembly, a group of students presented a video where they scrambled to put back toothpaste that they had squeezed out of a tube. Realizing the difficulty of the task, the students said: "Just like toothpaste, you can't take back words once you say them."

The assembly was part of the school's Body and Mind (B.A.M) initiative.

Niantic Center School Principal Melissa DeLoreto held up a poster of B.A.M.'s logo - a man running and carrying a bucket and an apple in either hand - to demonstrate to students the importance of a healthy mind and healthy body to create a happy life. She pointed out that exercise and eating healthy are good for the body, while the "Brain Gym" activities students do in school are healthy both for the body and the mind.

The bucket the figure carried signified the school's concept of "bucket-filling."

"That's being kind and caring and helpful to others, and that's also good for our mind," DeLoreto told students.

"It makes us feel good when we're kind and caring to others, and it makes others feel good by being that way," she added.

Later in the assembly, DeLoreto read aloud a quote from Leo Buscaglia that she said highlighted the impact of the little acts one can do each day:

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around," she read.

DeLoreto and the students also discussed the "Kindness Wave" in which a tiny ripple can lead to a wave. A second-grader said that an example of the kindness wave at school is when one student says "thank you" to a teacher handing out papers to students and then more students join in by saying "thank you."

About a dozen students were applauded as role models and recognized for actions to promote kindness, such as being a polite and friendly classmate.

After the assembly, the second-graders said they had some jitters about speaking in front of the school, but found the experience rewarding.

"It was awesome," said Andrew Rathbun.

"We hope that they think before they speak and always are kind," said Alina Kenyon, when asked what the students hope people learn from the assembly.

The second-graders had worked in small groups for two weeks before the assembly to deliver their message about kindness.

"It just makes me proud," said Swan, the second-grade teacher. "They worked so hard."

K.DRELICH@THEDAY.COM

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