[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 44 (Thursday, March 5, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING A SPACECOAST SYMBOL OF KINDNESS

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                            HON. BILL POSEY

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 5, 2020

  Mr. POSEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend kindergarten 
students in my Congressional district who have made it a priority and 
to remind us that kindness ``is always possible.''
  Nearly a year ago, transition kindergarten teacher Ms. Barbara Wilcox 
inspired her class at Tropical Elementary on Merritt Island in Brevard 
County, Florida, to join an initiative they called ``Together Kind.'' 
She shared, ``I do a lot of service learning with them, talking about 
how to be kind to people.''
  Children often ``get it'' when adults are slow to respond. That 
certainly played out strongly in Ms. Wilcox's class. The children 
wanted to make a difference. They recognized the meaning behind common 
symbols like the peace sign, the happy face and the heart, for love. 
And, in their wisdom, they perceived the value of having a symbol to 
remind the world of the importance of just being kind to one another.
  The class designed four candidates for a Symbol of Kindness and took 
their vision to the world. They shared their symbols on Facebook, 
through email, and a website they created called togetherkind.com. 
About 1,000 people from 25 states (and England and Ireland) voted and 
decided the winner.
  The children use social media only through parents and their teacher. 
But, they learned the power of communication and how to engage people 
in a meaningful and valuable way. They sold $1 magnets with the winning 
Symbol. ``Every day we looked to see how many people had signed the 
petition, and we highlighted, on a map, all the states people are 
from,'' said Ms. Wilcox, who's been teaching for 22 years. So, showing 
a little kindness can teach geography and bringing people together.
  Those are some of the things that kindness is about:
  Reaching out beyond ourselves and showing respect and care for 
others. Their symbol builds on the heart as the symbol of love. The 
heart is enclosed in a circle of arrows and that reminds me that 
kindness is more than just a noun. Kindness is an ``action'' word. 
Kindness happens by doing.
  I'm so proud that a class of young people in my district could remind 
us, ``Kindness is always possible'' in what they did and in the Symbol 
of Kindness they have given to the rest of us as a reminder.
  I have introduced a resolution to recognize their work as the 
Spacecoast Symbol of Kindness. Hopefully, their symbol can be carried 
by our astronauts on some future mission into space to spread their 
message beyond even our planet. If the nation needs kindness today, we 
can surely look forward to taking kindness with us to the moon, Mars, 
and beyond.
  Once again, I commend Ms. Wilcox and her class. They remind us that 
kindness is doing something for another person without expecting 
anything in return other than the possibility that others will pass on 
kindness to others. I thank the kindergarteners at Tropical Elementary, 
for this reminder.

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