Idyllwild School students gathered in the gymnasium on September 26 for a presentation by guest speaker Jessie Clark Funk, who brought her “kindness challenge.” Funk’s bio says she has brought her message to over a million kids worldwide through assemblies and at leadership conferences. She is a life coach, holds a B.S. Degree in Psychology and a Masters in social work, and told the group she is working on her Doctorate in Social Work. She is also the author of six books, and a singer, with five albums of inspirational material.

Funk gave two presentations, one for primary grades and the other for middle school grades. The Town Crier attended the first session, full of sing-alongs and call-and-response games to keep the energy level high but focused on the presentation. This presentation also included a surprise, as one student was honored for their own acts of kindness.

Funk asked the students “Are you a kind kid?” She asked them to point to someone else they though wast kind, then pointed out that they didn’t need to think long about the choice: “kindness is powerful, you remember.” We also, she pointed out, remember when someone is unkind.

She also asked the students if they had ever been unkind, and again the hands shot up. Funk told the students that we all have the capacity to be “grumpy cats,” and treated the group to a collection of grumpy cat videos. We all meet humans who are grumpy cats, she said, and we have all played that role, even if by accident, so we all know what it feels like to be on either side of unkindness.

Funk told her own middle school tale of unkindness: a new school, the thrill of finding an old friend, but that friend rejecting her and turning others against her. She asked herself “What is wrong with me?”, internalizing the rejection. She began acting out, was suspended four times. Finally, the principal of the school asked her what he could do to help, and gave her the safe space to share her struggle, relieving the pressure that had built up inside her, and beginning the process of healing and growth.

We are all, Funk said, learning to be human, and no one knows how, we’re all guessing, and we all make mistakes. This brought the talk to “treat people the way you want to be treated. Try to make people happy, always be kind to others even when they have not been kind to you.”

As to the pressure one feels inside when treated unkindly, Funk asked students to add their own strategies for coping. They offered things like running, walking in nature, making art, playing with friends or animal companions, or taking a hot bath.

Funk described cycles of kindness and hate, repeating the adage “hurt people hurt people,” but emphasizing the possibilities of spreading kindness. She introduced her project of a “Kindness Challenge,” challenging the students to take up the cause of kindness and keep a list of kind acts. If the students of this one school could each do 27 acts of kindness over five days, they would have performed a total of 5,000 acts.

Funk also made Idyllwild School a part of her national “Kindest Kid in America” program. Teacher had nominated students, and one, Velky Maldonado Raymundo, was recognized at the assembly. Velky learned that she had became the subject of an illustrated book, retelling the things she does at school and home to brighten others’ days. The list included things like asking your mother how her day was, being kind to teachers, offering to let younger kids take turns at games, and inviting kids who are left out to join your group at lunch. Idyllwild School Bilingual Parent liaison Mary Pimental told the Town Crier that Velky was the first student to be so recognized in California.

The presentation was paid for by a grant from the Idyllwild Community Fund.

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