GULF SHORES — Gulf Shores City School (GSCS) students from elementary to high school walked into school with smiles on their faces and stickers on their shirts for the annual celebration of Make Waves of Kindness Day, which coincided with World Kindness Day on Nov. 13.

For morning arrival, each carline had student volunteers passing out Make Waves of Kindness stickers, waving encouraging signs, sharing smiles and collecting donations via coin drive.

GSCS Director of Exceptional Education Sonya Price said funds raised from the drive totaled $4,100.

According to a press release on the event, Make Waves of Kindness initially began as Light It Up Blue, an event in the spring that had the goal of raising awareness for individuals with autism. Now it is a city-wide tradition of spreading kindness, inclusion and recognition of neurodiversity.

Last year, the City of Gulf Shores declared Nov. 13 as Make Waves of Kindness Day for the city.

Since then, community members have embraced the initiative to perform consistent acts of kindness to create lasting habits on the GCSC "campus, in the city and beyond."

"Extending kindness can be as small as offering a smile, an invitation or a work of encouragement," Price said in the press release. "These gestures remind our students and neighbors that they are loved, appreciated and essential to the fabric of Gulf Shores."

The event also serves as a fundraiser to support academic, social and emotional needs of all GSCS students.

Local fundraising efforts, such as a Shrimp Festival tip drive, business sponsors and individual supporters, alongside projects from the school have previously funded classroom items such as sensory boxes and supplies, fidgets and comfort supplies for school counselors, a sensory garden at the middle school, a sensory path at the elementary school, a sensory room, flexible and ball seating for multiple classrooms, sand and water tables, privacy cubes, sensory swings, a porch swing, emotional learning toys, social communication games, busy baskets for special needs school buses and professional development for faculty and staff.

"Each of these resources helps ensure that every student has what they need to thrive and feel included," the press release reads.

To donate or become a supporter of Make Waves of Kindness, visit gsboe.square.site/be-kind-gs.