Be Kind Project offers 'thank you' to Oklahoma teachers

To observe and celebrate Classroom Kindness Week, more than 1,300 Oklahoma teachers received gifts and classroom supplies from a new nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing gratitude and kindness in classrooms across the country.

The Be Kind People Project this week will bring recognition and appreciation to deserving teachers in 30 Oklahoma City and Tulsa schools. Several of the schools will also be treated to a Cool 2B Kind assembly, which features a crew of dynamic young performers from EPIK Dance Company who use urban and classical dance styles, slam poetry and audience participation to inspire kids not only to give their teachers a big “thank you,” but also to teach kids new relationship and kindness skills.

“I really believe in the importance teachers have as the fiber of the community,” said Marcia Meyer, founder of The Be Kind People Project. She started the project a year ago in Phoenix because she saw a great need in the country to give teachers more appreciation for their hard work.

“Kids may not stop and think of their teachers as someone who is there every day who they can depend on who really makes a difference,” Meyer said. She said teaching can be a thankless job and she hopes to change that.

After one year, the project has expanded to 14 markets across the country.

Meyer said Oklahoma was recommended as a location for the Project by Teach for America, an organization that works to close the education gap for children in low-income communities. The schools have Teach for America teachers who are hired by the organization to teach at schools that serve high populations of at-risk kids.