Sometimes lessons are taught outside the classroom. A Sioux Falls school teacher was hoping to inspire some of her students to do random acts of kindness on Tuesday, but as it turned out, she's inspired many more.
She teaches psychology at Washington High School, but Tuesday, Alison Ter Horst will be teaching everyone a lesson in humanity.
Last summer, Ter Horst and her husband lost their only daughter to SIDS. Baby Quinn would have been one on March 12, 2013.
"I talked to my husband a little bit and said, 'What if we did random acts of kindness during that day?'" Ter Horst said.
Ter Horst is getting students to signup and do something nice for people in what's been dubbed Celebrate Quinncidence Day.
Ter Horst said she first thought about staying in bed, but realized that wouldn't be right.
"You have all these hopes and dreams for your children and when something happens to them, those hopes and dreams fade. And I wanted my daughter to affect people, wanted people to be moved and changed by her. And I feel like if I spend her birthday in bed than people won't be moved or changed by her," Terhorst said.
Students have been signing up by the dozens.
"I'm going to Starbucks and pay for the person behind me and pay for their Starbucks. That's my main thing, but I will do little things along the way as well," senior Mallory Begtrup said.
"Everyone at school loves Mrs. Ter Horst. Everyone wants her to be happy in her life and to know she's doing something in Quinn's honor makes us all really happy because we saw her pain and it brings the school together," senior Olivia Burns said.
And that's the response Ter Horst was hoping to get.
"I hope they learn lessons like when things are hard, you still have an impact on others and people are watching how you react. Can't change the circumstances, but we can choose how we deal with them and how we react to them," Ter Horst said.
Since launching Quinncidence Day, Ter Horst has gotten emails from people across the country indicating they are doing acts of kindness on Tuesday as well.
You can read more about Quinn and Quinncidence Day on Ter Horst's blog "Oh My Dear One."
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