Moms looking to bring more kindness to schools

With their daughters heading to middle school in the fall, Rainbow Maldonado and Courtney Fisher worried about possible girl-against-girl “crime” in schools. They found the Kind Campaign as their solution.

Started in 2009 by students at Pepperdine University, the Kind Campaign seeks to spread awareness and healing to the negativity of actions like name calling, physical altercations and social ostracization.

The campaign includes a screening of the documentary “Finding Kind,” which is typically screened at one school in an area. However, Fisher had other ideas.

“I didn’t necessarily just want to go to Irving Middle School or Alameda Middle School,” she said. “So we approached the school district and said, ‘How do we touch as many girls in our region as possible?'”

So now in September, nearly 1,200 sixth and seventh grade girls are expected to see the documentary. Fisher said the documentary is “a way to initiate important dialogue in our own community about how to deal with some of these issues.”

It doesn’t stop there: starting in the fall School District 25, as well as other private and charter schools in the area, will have a Kind Club curriculum. In it, sixth and seventh grade girls will learn to bring the messages of the Kind Campaign into the community.

It will help keep the message of the campaign within the girls, according to Maldonado and Fisher, which is a high priority.

“As seventh graders progress through high school, we can track this,” said Maldonado. “We can track this and see the success of this.”

After brainstorming ideas with School District 25, Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad, Chubbuck Mayor Kevin England, and other organizations and businesses– the idea for a Kind Community was created.

From Sept. 21 to Sept. 27 there will be a number of events focused on spreading the message of being kind, including the film screening.

There will also be a kickoff event at the future Portneuf Wellness Complex.

Donations are needed to help fund Kind Community events during that week. Donations can be made out to the Gate City Rotary Club with a designation for Kind Community and sent to: Kind Community, 315 W. Center St., Suite 103, Pocatello, ID 83204.

Any questions or concerns about the Kind Campaign in Pocatello can be sent to kindcommunity2015@gmail.com.