HOUSTON — At Houston's C. E. King Middle School, there is one classroom every student wants to be in.
It’s the RAK room, or Random Acts of Kindness room, where students can use points they’ve earned on prizes like T-shirts, sneakers, sack packs, basketballs, baseball hats and more.
“We wanted to create the room to look like an actual store, so when they come in, they are excited,” says Treveia Dennis.
Dennis, along with her husband David Dennis, founded the organization Houston Random Acts of Kindness, through which C.E. King's RAK room was created. The middle school already had a points system in place where students could earn items like candy, sodas, and keychains, but principal Edward Taylor said the prizes in the new RAK room serve as a bigger motivation for students to do their best and be on their best behavior.
How do the students earn points?
“I help out my peers and my teachers and I do all my work and answer questions,” said Javian Chrisman-Bell, a 7th grader. “Little stuff that could add up.”
“I help the teachers pick up mess and I help them run errands,” said Elie Niyomugabo, who is also in 7th grade.
Live Enhancement Services of Texas also sponsors items in the room.
“I would love for somebody to come into my middle school and say, ‘I believe in you and I want to help you achieve all your goals,’ and that’s what we’re doing,” said Herb Gray, the CEO of LES Texas.
Taylor says the points system and the new room have led to a major decline in classroom disruptions. He’s reached out to other organizations as well to help keep the room stocked.
“Our challenge is to make the room ‘affordable’ and ‘attainable’ and we want to be able to stock the room so all 1,300 students are able to go in and use the points they’ve earned," Taylor said.
If you’re interested in donating items to the room, please reach out to C. E. King Middle School in Sheldon ISD.