Last week, the Colton Joint Unified School District (CJUSD) “Kindness Bus” made a trip to several Elementary Schools on Unity Day, October 25, 2017 to spread warmth and kindness to the children. The “Kindness Bus” was the brainchild of Erick Richardson (Director of Transportation for CJUSD) to provide a rolling billboard for CJUSD’s Kindness Campaign. It was created to bring a message of kindness, inclusion and acceptance throughout the whole of Colton. The bus was decorated by art students attending Sam Gallo’s class at Bloomington High School, who came up with the theme this year of "Be Happy. Be Kind." The theme supports CJUSD’s focus on kindness instead of bullying which strives to reinforce positive behaviors that interrelate with the District’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and thereby supporting the total intervention framework. Richardson said, “Our goal is to spread the kindness thought throughout the whole community and to keep reminding the students that “Being nice matters”.
When the bus arrived at each of the elementary schools on Unity Day, the children were so excited seeing how the bus was decorated, and they all wanted to get in it for a ride. The message about not accepting bullying in the schools and community is now resonating through Colton, and the hope is that it will continue for the rest of the school year.