In January, more than 4 million students and 15,000 educators honored the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by participating in the fourth annual Do Something Kindness & Justice Challenge, a national education initiative that encourages students in grades K-12 to perform acts of kindness (helping others) and acts of justice (standing up for what is right) for two weeks in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday.

Each day during the program, young people learned the values taught by Dr. King—justice, compassion, responsibility, non-violence and moral courage—and put these values into practice by performing positive acts in their schools, homes and communities.

The success of the Kindness & Justice Challenge is a fitting tribute to Dr. King's life and legacy. He believed passionately in the power of young people to make a difference, and he showed us that young people can be visionaries and powerful agents of change.

In fact, many of the victories of the civil rights movement stemmed from the courageous acts and undeterred idealism of young people: Franklin McCain was 19 years old when he stood up for all people by sitting down at a Greensboro, North Carolina lunch counter. Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Eckford endured racist, violent threats as she walked into history as one of nine black students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock.

Through the Do Something Kindness & Justice Challenge. America's young people are continuing this extraordinary work by taking simple, yet powerful, action to improve their communities:

• Students at Montgomery Central Elementary School in the small, rural town of Cunningham, Tennessee adopted a local nursing home for the entire year, visiting the elderly patients, singing to them and providing much needed love and friendship.
• In Raleigh, North Carolina, students at Wakefield High School launched an after-school mentoring program where older students help younger students with everything from homework to dealing with the daily challenges of life.
• In Chicago, Illinois, Decatur Classical School created a partnership with a local animal shelter. The students are collecting supplies, volunteering each week to provide staff support and helping connect animals with loving families.

These young people show how individual acts of kindness and justice can change lives, and they are developing the habits of leadership that will last a lifetime.

Do Something provides comprehensive resources for educators to improve their students' academic and leadership skills through meaningful community involvement. Do Something's Kindness & Justice Challenge curriculum is free, and it makes an ideal resource for Black History Month. Educators can access all of Do Something's resources online [1], where they will find age-appropriate daily lessons on the values and teachings of Dr. King, engaging classroom activities, educator tips for getting buy-in and support from school administrators as well as fun ways to encourage student participation.

Young people can also get involved by visiting Do Something's youth website [2], where they can learn about Dr. King's life and teachings, follow the efforts of young people during the civil rights movement and connect to young people today who are continuing the struggle for tolerance and social justice.

Like Dr. King, I believe in the power of young people to change the world. If students can commit to one day of kindness and justice, then they can commit to a week of kindness and justice—a week becomes a year, a year becomes a lifetime.

By standing up for our beliefs and taking action to improve our communities and nation, we will help make Dr. King's dream of equality and justice a reality.

Actor Andrew Shue is the co-founder and chairman of Do Something, a leading provider of youth-led character education and leadership initiatives in America's schools.