TULARE, Calif. (KSEE) – Two Tulare sixth graders are showing that kindness and treating others how you want to be treated, can make a difference.
‘You should treat other people how you want to be treated,” says Miguel Ayala, a sixth-grade student at Palo Verde Elementary School in Tulare.
Ayala and his best friend Matthew Ramirez take those words to heart. They are both sixth graders at Palo Verde Elementary School in Tulare. During a classroom discussion about “exclusion” on campus, they decided to live by those words when one of their classmates revealed she felt like she had no friends.
“I feel like nobody should exclude a person just because they don’t want to be friends with them,” says Ramirez.
The boys decided to have lunch with Elizabeth Bailey-Davis, the student who felt alone and let her know that they were there for her. Word got out about what happened, and their teachers were impressed.
‘That really touched me in my heart because when you see young people doing things like that, going out of their way to be kind to others and including others,” says Anthony Nguyen, a math and science teacher at Palo Verde Elementary School.
Nguyen says the great character displayed by Miguel and Matthew was inspirational to others.
“When they did that, I think that opened the door for other students to say ‘Hey, I can be kind too” says Nguyen.
So now, Elizabeth, Miguel, and Matthew are friends. Kicking around a soccer ball and letting Elizabeth know they’re there for her. A simple act of kindness with a big dose of good character that means so much.
“It feels good to have some friends,” says Bailey-Davis.
