MAPLEWOOD, Mo. — Sometimes, the youngest people can teach us the oldest lessons.
"Children even though they're 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 they can do something powerful to change to world," said Principal Cyndi Hebenstreit.
These are the kids from the Maplewood Richmond Heights Early Childhood Center singing "Lean on Me" just after staging a March for Kindness.
"They want to stand up for something important," explained Teacher Dasia Franczyk.
Kids may only take small steps but they can be meaningful if they're all going in the right direction.
"Because some people don't care about people but then some people do care about people so they spread their kindness to someone else," 7-year-old Ethan Woodruff told us.
The Kindness March actually began here in Dasia Franczyk's first- and second-grade class.
They were learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington.
"And I really listened to them," said Franczyk. "One student said, 'We could do a march,' and I said, 'You guys could,' and I said, 'What would you do it for?' Kindness."
So for the past two months, in addition to reading and writing, the kids have been painting.
"I'm working on my sign and it says 'Be kind to animals,'" 7-year-old Evie Dougherty said.
Every student making a poster that they'll carry during the March and every student talking about the kind people in their lives.
"The kindest people I know are my mom and my dad and my friends," Evie told us.
"Marlie and Clay," said a smiling 7-year-old Ronylah Stewart talking about her friends.
But to really understand the meaning of the March, perhaps it's best to listen to someone older and wiser.
Ellory Meyers is a third grader and class helper.
"It's so that it spreads even more," she said. "To make a ripple effect through the world. So that everyone is aware of it that we each have to be kind and that everyone is being kind to everyone and we can have an amazing world."
The plan was actually to take the march outside, but bad weather kept it inside. But, it's not where you walk that matters, it's why.
"When we are kind and caring about what happens to someone else we make the world a better place to be," explained Hebenstreit.
First and second graders marching for kindness and showing that you're never too small to make a big difference.
