Thirty-six area high school students (nine of whom are Jewish) comprise SevenDays 2024’s Kindness Youth Leadership Team (KYLT), a group dedicated to spreading kindness throughout the Kansas City area.
The youth group is composed of students from a variety of high schools, grades, faiths and races.
This year’s Jewish KYLT members are Bea Colbert, Lauren Frumkin, Kayla Gele, Dani Glickman, Caroline Gordon, Abby Hill, Eden Iseman, Mia Mondry and Sami Sandler.
Students were selected through an application process committing to attend monthly leadership and mentoring meetings and play an active role representing their schools in SevenDays activities. This year, the team includes 12 returning and 23 new members from 20 different schools representing 15 school districts in the Kansas City region. Several students are siblings of past KYLT members.
“Our Kindness Youth Leadership Team is the largest and most diverse team we have ever had,” said Jill Andersen, director of youth engagement for SevenDays. “I am so excited to see these teens make an impact in their community by being kindness influencers.”
SevenDays is a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization that promotes kindness and understanding through education and dialogue to overcome hate. It was born out of hate when a white supremacist murdered 14-year-old Reat Underwood, his grandfather Dr. William Corporon and Terri LaManno on April 13, 2014, outside of Jewish facilities. In the aftermath, the two families, friends and community members began SevenDays.
KYLT members meet monthly during the school year to work on various aspects of SevenDays® including planning events and activities. They receive leadership training and mentorship, and they do community service for other nonprofit organizations.
KYLT was created during the first years of SevenDays when Jake Goldman, then a student at Blue Valley North High School, approached Co-Founder and President Mindy Corporon asking what he could do to help. With the belief that youth are key to countering hate with kindness, Corporon started the youth team. Now, 10 years later, more than 100 area high school students have served on KYLT.
SevenDays is marking its 10th anniversary with commemorations beginning on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, with its Kindness Breakfast. It will host its inaugural Community Kindness Festival on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Details on daily themes to celebrate kindness for each of the seven days is available at sevendays.org.
Additional Youth Opportunities
In addition to KYLT, SevenDays conducts a button design competition for high school students, who are tasked to create designs reflecting each of the seven days’ themes (“love,” “discover,” “others,” “connect,” “you,” “go” and “onward”). Students are invited to submit their designs until Dec. 15. More information on the competition is available at sevendays.org. The buttons and stickers are produced, and the public may order either for free through the website.
Another youth opportunity is for high school seniors through its Kindness Action Scholarship. Graduating seniors are encouraged to create a kindness project addressing one or more of the SevenDays themes, execute it and submit an essay about its impact. The deadline to apply for the Kindness Action Scholarship is Jan. 12, 2024. Up to five $1,000 scholarships will be awarded for higher education tuition. More details can be found at sevendays.org/get-involved/for-students/kindness-action-competition. Winners will be introduced at the April 10, 2024, SevenDays Kindness Breakfast.
Area youth also participate as volunteers; opportunities are available for youth and adults. More information about SevenDays is available by contacting Ruth Baum Bigus at (913) 707-7746 or .
- Sydney Anderson: BV North, Senior, Christian
- Bea Colbert: Pembroke Hill, Sophomore, Jewish
- Caleb Deng: BV North, Senior, Christian
- Leili Deshmukh: Barstow, Junior, Christian
- Lauren Frumkin: BV West, Senior, Jewish
- Kayla Gele: Ray-Pec, Senior, Jewish
- Dani Glickman: Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Freshman, Jewish
- Caroline, Gordon, BV High, Sophomore, Jewish
- Anika Goyal: BV West, Sophomore, Hindu
- Sai Gudla: BV North, Junior, Hindu
- Maddy Hall: BV North, Junior, Methodist
- Abby Hill: Barstow, Junior, Jewish
- Anna Hoskins: BVNW, Sophomore, Spiritual/Not Religious
- Kiara H. Howard: Paola High School, Senior, Not Religious
- Eden Iseman: BV North, Junior, Jewish
- Michael Jiang: BV West, Freshman, none
- Sarah Jiang: BV West, Junior, Spiritual/Not Religious
- Abhi Kambhampati: BV North, Sophomore, Hindu
- Lola Kernell: Bishop Miege, Senior, Catholic
- Parker Lank: SM South, Junior, Methodist
- Ivy (Seoyoung) Lee: Lee's Summit North, Senior, none (Foreign exchange student from South Korea)
- Ellie Lim: BV North, Senior, none
- Jaelyn McDonald: Lone Jack High, Junior, Christian
- Mia Mondry: BV High, Sophomore, Jewish
- Paritosh (Pari) Patel: BV North, Junior, Hindu
- Caroline Plumb: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Senior, Catholic
- Kathryn Rees:, BV Southwest, Senior, Catholic
- Maeve Riley: Notre Dame de Sion, Sophomore, Catholic
- Sami Sandler: BV High, Sophomore, Jewish
- Roxy Schelstrate, Spring Hill, Sophomore, none
- Claire Solis: St. Teresa's Academy, Freshman, Catholic
- Erica Strathman: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Sophomore, Catholic
- Meme Taylor: Olathe Northwest, Freshman, none
- Athan Tran: BV North, Junior, Muslim
- Mark Ziegler: SM South, Senior, Presbyterian
- Aubrie Zumwalt: Ray-Pec, Sophomore, Christian