Andrew Fei, a Captain Elementary student, has made it into the top 20 students for the National Kindness Speech Contest. This contest was created by the non profit organization, ThinkKindness. ThinkKindness is a non profit organization that visits schools across the country to inspire acts of kindness in the communities of the schools with the help from motivational speakers. 

Each contestant had to film themselves answering the question: “If you had a megaphone that could reach the entire planet, what would you say to inspire everyone to make our world a kinder place?”

In his video, Fei answered, “Kindness can fill our hearts with compassion and warmth. Kindness brings respect, attention and even admiration wherever you go. Is it hard to be kind? No! You can show kindness by smiling or giving a friendly wave to someone. You can say kind words or give a hug to someone who needs encouragement. You can also show kindness by sharing a book or a toy with other kids. And you can help your parents out by doing some chores in the house.”

The contest was open to children ages 5 to 18 years old and each speech had to be two minutes long. Each speech was judged by a panel of motivational speakers, nonprofit leaders, previous winners, and more. The first place winner will receive $500, a trophy, and a homepage feature on the ThinkKindness website.The second place winner will receive $250, and the third place winner will receive $100. Fei plans to donate his prize if he wins.

Once Fei entered the top 20, he was paired with a speech coach to prepare for the finals. His speech coach is Chase Mielke, an award-winning educator, writer, and speaker. 

“(He) suggested that I make bigger gestures, start my speech with a question, and end it with a call-to action, which really improved my speech,” said Fei.

Voting is open until June 6. Watch Andrew’s video and vote here.

Learn more about the contest here.