This past week, York Mills Collegiate Institute hosted the fourth annual Project Kindness week event to promote mental health and wellness for high school students. Each day, Business Management classes hosted a variety of events to inspire students and teachers to incorporate kindness into their daily lives and to promote good mental health.

This year, York Mills CI hosted several activities such as Mental Health Puppies, Wellness Dance, and Student Vs. Teacher Lip Sync Battle and their featured event - YMCI Talks. Students from other middle schools and high schools also join York Mills CI where they were inspired by dynamic speakers from various professional and social sectors.

This event was a TED Talk-style forum with speakers such as Faizal Khamisa, a television anchor at Sportsnet, and Hon Michael Coteau, MPP to name a few, presenting on themes including but not exclusive to: overcoming adversity, kindness in the 21st century, self-love and body image, the magnitude of everyday gestures and mental health and well-being in general.

Kindness Week’s success has had a great impact on the York Mills school environment, surrounding schools and local community. It has allowed students at York Mills to learn the importance of kindness and be inspired by the events throughout the week to lead more compassionate lives.