It has been a decade since a shooter tragically took the lives of three individuals at two Jewish facilities in our community.
The loss of Reat Underwood, William Corporon, and Terri LaManno resulted in the creation of one of Kansas City’s most resilient and compassionate communities.
Mindy Corporon, Reat’s mother and William’s daughter, is the founder of SevenDays. This organization is dedicated to promoting kindness throughout the Kansas City area. SevenDays is involved in various activities such as awarding scholarships, organizing a button-making competition, providing classroom curriculums, fostering meaningful conversations, and advocating for education. The overarching goal of SevenDays is to spread kindness in all its forms.
Our community is committed to honoring the lives lost 10 years ago through SevenDays. We aim to learn from the past and shape our future, transitioning from a place of hatred to one of kindness.
The impact of this tragedy, which occurred a decade ago, has reverberated throughout the education of countless elementary to high school-aged students. Despite being young or not yet born at the time, they have experienced its effects in ways that cannot be taught through textbooks.
Jill Andersen expressed her fascination with working for an organization that emerged from a hateful act but managed to foster a positive movement.
Jill Andersen holds the role of Director of Youth Engagement at SevenDays. She plays a crucial role in introducing kindness-centered curricula and resources into schools and classrooms.
Andersen emphasized the importance of acknowledging the underlying reasons behind our actions. He noted that it can be challenging to transition from discussing our past experiences to focusing on our current goals.
The aim is to strike a balance between acknowledging past events and focusing on the future. The objective is to empower students to not only identify hate but also replace it with acts of kindness.
“Reat Underwood was an exceptional student in my fourth-grade class,” fondly recalls Kala Pelate. “He possessed a remarkable blend of humor, wit, and empathy that set him apart from his peers.”
Pelate currently works as a counselor at Blue River Elementary School.
When you enter her classrooms, you will discover her students engaging in activities and conversations that inspire them to bring about change. They engage in coloring pictures, offering compliments, and learning about kindness. Through these interactions, they develop a deeper understanding of past tragedies.
She mentioned that the children have the ability to take charge and generate ideas, lessons, and activities that make them feel empowered to spread acts of kindness.
Her students, just like everyone else, are adept at recognizing hatred. However, they are equally skilled at identifying acts of kindness. It is these acts of kindness that serve as the foundation for the creation of SevenDays.
“Kindness holds a special meaning for me,” expressed Annabelle and Melanie, two fifth graders from Kala’s class. “To us, it signifies the act of showing more compassion, care, and love.”
