Our School

A message of kindness dominates our school cafeteria. A Ben's Bells mural was created in the Holy Cross High School by student leaders, Isabella Lombardo '25 and Ryan Makowski '25 and several volunteers. 

Ben’s Bells are colorful ceramic ornaments hung in communities throughout the world as symbols of kindness for people to find and take home. Ben’s Bells educates communities about the skills we need to make kindness part of our daily lives. 

"We have had such a great experience with this project," said Kate Xeller, Assistant Principal. "We are so excited that Holy Cross is able to be a part of something like this. It's definitely a wonderful way to start the school year." 

According to their official website, in 2002, Ben's Bells founder, Jeannette Maré’s life changed forever when her son, Ben, died suddenly just before his third birthday. In the months following his death, Jeannette and her friends and family began making ceramic wind chimes – the first Ben’s Bells – in her backyard studio. Being surrounded by supportive people and working with clay toward a common goal was therapeutic for her family and their healing.

During this time, Jeannette learned how a small act of kindness could make such a difference in a person’s life, no matter their background. She wanted to find a way to teach others about the impact of intentional acts of kindness, and so the idea for the Bell came to life. Jeannette and her friends made four hundred Bells and randomly distributed them in the Tucson community on the first anniversary of Ben’s death. Through these Bells, she had found a way to pay forward the kindnesses that had been shown to her.

This started a powerful ripple effect. Since 2003, Ben’s Bells has been operating as a nonprofit, growing kindness education programs and continuing to distribute thousands of Bells every year. Today Bells are found all over the world and our free kindness education programming has reached over 1.6 million students.