Middle-grade author Dana Kramaroff recently visited Black Rock Middle School, where she spoke to students about her journey to becoming a writer, as well as her book The Do More Club and its central themes of kindness, identity, acceptance and service to others.

The Do More Club follows Josh, a young Jewish boy, as he deals with the aftermath of an antisemitic incident at his school. Rather than allowing fear and shame to silence him, Josh starts a ‘Do More’ club to spread kindness and make a positive impact in his community.

For Kramaroff, The Do More Club is deeply personal. She shared with students the adversity and isolation she experienced growing up as the only Jewish child in her school. Kramaroff encouraged students to embrace their differences while also recognizing, respecting, and welcoming the differences of others.

She emphasized that even small, seemingly insignificant acts of kindness can have a big, positive impact on their community. Kramaroff explained that it’s easy to be kind and suggested simple, fun activities that students could start right away to brighten someone else’s day.

After the assembly, students returned to their classrooms to put these lessons into action by participating in one of Kramaroff’s suggested activities: writing kind, encouraging messages on post-it notes to leave on mirrors, lockers, desks, etc., for others to find.

Some of the other activities Kramaroff suggested included:

• Painting rocks to hide around your community or school
• Writing positive messages on sticky notes and placing them on bathroom mirrors
• Writing quotes on paper and leaving them for others to find
• Creating a ‘take what you need’ tear-off flyer with kind words to hang on bulletin boards
• Making a card or writing a letter for someone special as a surprise
• Recording an audio pep talk and turning it into a QR code for others to scan

Ultimately, Kramaroff’s visit left students feeling inspired and empowered to be kind to others—a message that aligns seamlessly with the District’s ongoing inclusivity efforts and the #LMSDBuildingBelonging campaign.