Contest to Help the Be Kind People Project Provide Character Education for Students

Phoenix, AZ, April 14, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Non-profit that benefits education needs help in qualifying for a sweet reward in national contest.

An Arizona non-profit needs your help in a national contest!   The Be Kind People Project® has been selected as one of 10 semi-finalists in the Jimmie Johnson Foundation Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope®.   For one week (April 9-17) the public will vote for their favorite semi-finalist to receive a $25,000 grant, a Blue Bunny® ice cream party, and to have their logo featured on Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR Sprint Cup helmet during the race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 7th.  

"We are excited about the opportunity to compete in this contest and are grateful to Blue Bunny and the Jimmie Johnson Foundation for what they are doing to help K-12 education in America. Inspiration and hope for students without instruction is just "entertainment"; however, inspiration and hope combined with guided instruction and personal motivation creates the foundation for respect, responsibility, acceptance, and a positive and visible change in youth. We think our values closely align with those of the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope." She continues, "Kindness is a force without force and goes to the core of how people respect, communicate with, and treat one another. The reach of this training extends far beyond the school environment; it affects families, communities, and will help shape the citizens and leaders of tomorrow."

Marcia Meyer, Founder

The voting takes place online at www.HelmetOfHope.org. There is no limit on the number of votes that a person can submit. All semi-finalists in the competition benefit K-12 public education. The Be Kind People Project is the only semi-finalist from Arizona.    

The Be Kind People Project (BKPP) offers innovative youth development programs and services that initiate social change in schools and improve the overall learning environment. “Research shows that character education programs can actually improve academic achievement” (education.com). Their positive approach of The Be Kind People Project to behavior and character education equips students with a solid framework to build healthy interpersonal relationship skills, improve academic achievement, and form enduring values.  

As one of the most socially relevant and effective ways to implement character education, The Be Kind People Project uses the approach, attitude, urban dance, and style of The Be Kind Crew™ to connect with today’s youth, to develop creative learning methods, and to instill positive language to help teach and focus on what TO do rather than what NOT to do. Not only are the students stimulated mentally and physically, the message is even more substantial with classroom materials, in-school and online programs, teacher appreciation, community service, physical exercise, recognition programs, assemblies and more!  Schools report that there has been a significant reduction in behavior issues, including bullying, in schools that implement the tenets of The Be Kind Pledge™ – “Be encouraging, supportive, positive, helpful, honest, considerate, thankful, responsible, respectful, and be a friend.”

Says Founder, Marcia Meyer, “We are excited about the opportunity to compete in this contest and are grateful to Blue Bunny and the Jimmie Johnson Foundation for what they are doing to help K-12 education in America.     Inspiration and hope for students without instruction is just "entertainment"; however, inspiration and hope combined with guided instruction and personal motivation creates the foundation for respect, responsibility, acceptance, and a positive and visible change in youth. We think our values closely align with those of the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope.” She continues, “Kindness is a force without force and goes to the core of how people respect, communicate with, and treat one another. The reach of this training extends far beyond the school environment; it affects families, communities, and will help shape the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.”    

The Be Kind People Project finds unique methods to incorporate engaging pop culture references as well as agreeable and fun concepts such as the joy of ice cream in their assemblies; all in the name of exemplifying real world application of kindness! “During our assemblies, we connect with kids through an interactive and high energy experience that engages students through today’s language of urban dance and spoken word. ” says Sarah “Saza” Dimmick, Artistic Director for The Be Kind People Project. “We provide positive solutions to help kids take accountability for their personal relationships. We help develop solutions to behavior issues like bullying --- and we do it without ever saying the words “bully” or “don’t” or “anti”.   We make it COOL to be kind.”

One of the examples comes in the form of a skit where one Be Kind Crew member accidentally loses some money when  it falls out of a pocket (Oops!). Another Crew member picks it up, explains that the money was lost, and gives it back (saving the day).  In return, kind Crew member is rewarded for being honest/giving the money back by being treated to some ice cream! The Be Kind Crew dances to the chant of “ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!” along with the hundreds of students and their teachers in attendance who join in - and everyone feels the sensation of unity that comes with the common bond of extending good to another person, plus the anticipation of ice cream. Who would guess that the love of ice cream can help kids learn about the importance of being honest too!

A quick look at what BKPP does how it uses ice cream:

youtu.be/0lisAkFNufA

Well, now that love of ice cream may be paying off… literally. It’s time to BE A FRIEND and help The Be Kind People Project be a national winner.

About The Be Kind People Project:

The Be Kind People Project is an Arizona-based 501c3 non-profit with national presence.    Public, charter, and private schools are served from early childhood through secondary students.   The Be Kind People Project uses the tenets of The Be Kind Pledge for programs and services that connect character education with academic lessons, community service, teacher appreciation, national contests, recognition, community service projects, creative expression, and exercise.   Since 2011, The Be Kind People Project has provided over 20 million supplies and resources to more than 2 million students and has presented Be Kind Crew interactive learning experiences to over 75,000 students across the nation.  

The mission of The Be Kind People Project is to improve the social, emotional, and learning environment in our nation’s schools by purposefully equipping students with character development tools that build positive and healthy relationship skills and foster social and emotional learning.

About the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope Program
In its eighth year, the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope program gives fans and consumers across the country the opportunity to nominate their favorite charity to be featured on six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson’s helmet for the race at Pocono Raceway on June 7, 2015.  The title sponsor for Helmet of Hope program is Blue Bunny Ice Cream.  In addition to being featured on the helmet, each charity selected also receives a grant of $25,000 and a Blue Bunny ice cream party.  To date, the program has contributed more than $685,000 to 76 different charities

 For more information, visit us at www.TheBeKindPeopleProject.org or contact Carrie Simmons at [email protected] or 602-559-9399.