Bracelet program promotes all acts of kindness
A program at Youngs Grove Elementary School is asking students to pay it forward by being kind to one another, and trading away a bracelet to award those who show off those acts in daily life.
The “It’s Cool 2B Kind” program got its start last week after a donation was presented to Youngs Grove Elementary School by The Kindness Revolution on Monday, Feb. 27.
Rachel Truitt, a teacher at the school, said her husband and local State Farm Insurance agent Jeff Truitt was approached about bringing the program to the area via Cedartown, and wondered what he might be able to do.
“This is starting as a pilot program at Youngs Grove,” she said. “It promotes being kind, having good manners and being respectful, which is all something we need to work on.”
The Kindness Revolution is a not for profit organization with a mission to raise awareness of values, such as kindness. The program focuses on the ongoing process of recognizing exemplary student behavior with an emphasis on positive behavior to reduce bullying.
She explained that teachers are given bracelets, and every time they see a student promoting the ethos of kind acts, they recognize that student with a bracelet.
“And once a kid gets a bracelet, it’s their turn to pass it on,” Truitt explained. “In a way it’s like paying it forward, by recognizing people outside of school for kind acts too.”
She said students can re-earn new bracelets by doing something else kind, with the goal being to see how many of the bracelets can be spread around the community, then onward to a global scale.
“We tell our kids that when you try to change the world, that’s where you live,” she said. “This is one way to do it, by spreading kindness, and changing your world by being kind to those who are promoting that behavior.”
Truitt said they’ve gotten students involved in the program at first by holding a pep rally and explaining the purpose of the bracelets.
Thus far, she said the message has gotten through and after the first day of implementation there were already more than 60 students who had gotten bracelets for their kind acts.
She also wants not only her stu- dents to start handing out bracelets, but also everyone else in Cedartown and Polk County who want to show their appreciation for everyday acts of kindness.
If people in community want to participate and pick up their own bracelets, they can visit Jeff Truitt at his State Farm Insurance office at 231 S. College St., Cedartown.