Caring Is Always In Season

Today I'm excited because we're celebrating caring at school. 

And not just this time of month, but all year long, 

because caring is always in season.

On Friday, we hosted our inaugural Character Pep Rally.

Prior to the event, we interviewed some of our superheroes 

to see what they had to say about caring, 

how they feel about it, 

and how they put it into action.

At the pep rally, we shared those reflections with our school family on the big screen before recognizing a few Caring Ambassador nominees, those students who live life thinking with their hearts, with a Backpack Tag. Teachers personalized the tags by writing why they chose that student for this distinction on the back.

Our character cam caught this precious moment when my friend Grant got his tag. This week was really special for him, because his story was featured in the Galveston County News after he wrote this complimentary note of friendship and care to author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds.

I tweeted Grant's compliment and question to Mr. Reynolds and here's his kind and very personal reply which, as you can imagine, made Grant's day.

Kindness is like that, it ripples out.

Photo courtesy of FISD

And, like a boomerang, it {almost} always comes back.

After Grant shared the story with his class ... 

you guessed it ... another letter came my way ... from one of his classmates ... with a request to please send it to her favorite violinist Lindsey Stirling. 

So I did. Then I tweeted out that beautiful drawing along with a link to Lindsey's subway performance of Hallelujah.

Grant told me that he has decided that December 18th ought to be designated as Write To Your Hero Day. Isn't that a fun idea? 

Peter H. Reynolds thinks so!

Great things are happening at Bales Intermediate. 

On our way out the door on Friday, 

one of my fourth graders had this to say:

I think that today's Pep Rally will make more kids

want to do kind things, don't you Mrs. Gruener? 

We can only hope, my friend; we can only hope.