Eagles SOS spreads kindness through activities, service

EUGENE, Mo. -- A new club is sharing kindness in the Cole County R-5 School District.

Eagles SOS, or Sources of Strength, is sponsored by the district's counselors. Members of the club participate in activities to help out teachers and students, share messages of kindness and let people know they are appreciated.

On Monday, the club put together a Christmas party for students in the district, complete with crafts, coloring, bingo, games, hot chocolate and a special DJ dressed in red with a long white beard.

Senior Evan Twehus volunteered to DJ as Santa for the event. He is member of Eagles SOS.

"Really it's just doing just this, putting on parties for kids, making them feel special and everything like that, just making them grow up to be great humans. That's really the main goal," he said.

Elementary students in pajama pants sipped hot cocoa as they played cards or listened to bingo being called from a sparkly light-up microphone.

There were also goody bags for students.

The club was able to pay for items for the party through a fundraiser selling blue T-shirts that say "kindness begins here."

Students in the club also got shirts to wear.

"The idea is that we wear it once a month, and we have an activity district-wide," said Tiffany Farris, elementary counselor and club sponsor.

The club is primarily made up of seniors, juniors and sophomores, and Farris said the number of students in the club is close to 24.

There are high standards for membership: Students must have good grades and attendance. They also must practice what they preach by having no office referrals and by being known for saying and doing kind things.

"You have to be kind. You can't be going around school and being mean," Farris said.

So far, the club has handed out goody bags and helped teachers with their stations at the Halloween party. It has also put on a pancake day for staff for World Kindness Day.

Twehus said the club also speaks to elementary classes about kindness and sportsmanship. He said it's important to spread kindness in school.

"With bullying being prevalent everywhere else, we're just really trying to hit the nail on the head and solve the problem as best we can, and it's not going to go away, but we can definitely make it better," he said.

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