The Power of Positivity: Bondurant Middle School's The Kind Line

Who said positivity and humor can't change the world? Join me, Superintendent Mark Kopp, in a lively banter with four young visionaries from Bondurant Middle School. Avery Bishop, Emma Collingsworth, Eleanor Bishop, and Campbell Goins, with the help of their school counselor, Brooke Fell, bring to the spotlight their unique initiative, "The Kind Line". A student-led project, The Kind Line is an innovative platform promoting positivity and inclusivity within their school community. Discover the inspirational reasoning behind this idea as these young ladies eloquently unfold the concept and workings of The Kind Line.

As the episode progresses, we venture into a light-hearted segment filled with laughter and curiosity. The girls share some of their favorite jokes and quotes featured on The Kind Line, giving listeners a taste of the joy and positivity they're spreading. As we draw towards the end, we switch gears to a fun Q&A session, revealing their favorite candy bars and breakfast cereals. Be ready to be infected by their contagious energy and creativity. So, lend your ears to their journey and witness how these young changemakers are making a difference, one call at a time. After all, who can resist a good joke or a dash of positivity?

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:08

Welcome to FCS Unscripted, a new podcast for one team, fcs, where we look at the stories behind every one in Franklin County schools. Well, good morning and welcome to the podcast, fcs Unscripted. I am a superintendent, mark Kopp, and I am so pleased to be able to have some wonderful young ladies with us today. We are going to be interviewing four young ladies from Bondret Middle School who have created what I think is one of the best things I've ever seen in terms of student led initiatives it's called the kind line with with the assistance of their counselor, miss Brookfell, and I'm going to let the, the kiddos, introduce themselves. So if you lean into the mic, tell everyone who you are.

Speaker 2 0:53

I'm Avery Bishop. I'm a seventh grader at Bondret Middle School. I'm Emma.

Speaker 3 0:57

Collins-Rick, and I'm awesome as seventh grader.

Speaker 4 1:01

I'm Eleanor Bishop and I'm also a seventh grader.

Speaker 5 1:04

I'm Campbell Gohans and I'm a seventh grader at Bondret Middle School.

Speaker 1 1:08

Awesome.

Speaker 6 1:09

And my name is Brookfell and I'm one of the school counselors at Bondret.

Speaker 1 1:12

Not just one of the school counselors, the middle school and now overall counselor of the year in the state of Kentucky. So we're blessed and honored to have you with us and thank you for what you do for these kids every day, Brook and kiddos. This is a fantastic project. The kind line A lot of folks in in our listening audience have heard of it. They've, they've called it, but some haven't. So who would like to start off by explaining what the kind line is? Go ahead.

Speaker 5 1:41

So basically the kind line is where you can call in the phone number 502-661-3001 and you'll hear a positive message and a joke and sometimes, instead of positive message positive message you'll hear a quote.

Speaker 1 2:00

Okay, positive message or quote and jokes. Okay, what else I mean? Who else wants to talk about this? How did this come about?

Speaker 2 2:11

So, basically, campbell just came up with this idea and she texted us one night and she's like hey, I want to start this thing to make people happy.

Speaker 1 2:21

So it is about making people happy, you know. So why did you get that idea? What was the? You know?

Speaker 5 2:29

Well, I noticed that a lot of people, like especially kids in our school, didn't exactly feel connected because they weren't doing any after school projects, and that's their choice, so it's fine. But we created this so that they would feel more connected to Bondret and more included and feel like they have a purpose at.

Speaker 1 2:48

Bondret. So how did you others get involved? You know, is this you. You texted your friends and said hey, let's do this thing. What was your alls response?

Speaker 4 3:00

Well, we all kind of had like different ideas for it and we just kind of shaped it until we had what we wanted.

Speaker 1 3:05

So what kind of like messages are on the kind line? Lean in real, close to the mic.

Speaker 2 3:17

Okay, Emma wants to say her favorite joke.

Speaker 1 3:20

Yes, that's what I was hoping for. Let's hear it, Emma.

Speaker 3 3:23

I want to do a different one. Okay, what did the drummer name his two daughters?

Speaker 1 3:29

What did the drummer name his two daughters? I have no idea.

Speaker 3 3:32

Anna 1, Anna 2.

Speaker 1 3:35

That's great Brooke kind of talk about from your perspective, what you know. How did all of this kind of come about and what did you do to kind of steer them in this direction?

Speaker 6 3:46

Well, honestly, I just feel like I'm kind of the lucky person who they approached and said we've got this idea. Do you think you can help us? So I can take zero credit for any of the awesome ideas that they have. They, they did it all.

Speaker 6 4:01

But the hardest part was we needed to get a number and so they approached me at the end of last year about this, and one of their parents had set up a Skype call with people from Frankfurt Plant Board because we weren't sure that we had the ability to do it at school without it having to go through our main office line and secretary answering. So we met with Frankfurt Plant Board, we talked to our awesome tech tech department over here and it ends up we didn't actually have to use the plant board because there were some extra lines that we didn't know existed, that were direct lines to bond rent. So when Stella told me over the summer, hey, we've got this line, it's like, yes, can we use it for the kind line and to let the kids know? And at the very beginning of school we started advertising and they created all the advertisements and they've taken it away.

Speaker 1 4:54

I love it and so we. I see the show off the t-shirts there. Bondurant Middle School. The kind line. Let's say the number again for everyone in the audience. Say it real loud into the mics 502-661-3001. And this is for everyone, right. I mean, anyone can call this and they're gonna get either a fun joke, a message of support. Give me an example of a message of support that someone would hear.

Speaker 3 5:23

I know one quote we used was life is like a bicycle you have to keep going to stay balanced, and I'm pretty sure Albert Einstein said that.

Speaker 1 5:36

That's great, that's great. So where do you get the jokes from? By the way?

Speaker 5 5:41

Generally an online source.

Speaker 1 5:44

Okay, so you just pull them. Are they a lot of dad jokes? Yes, those are some of my favorites, you know. Can I contribute one to the kind line for a future episode?

Speaker 4 5:54

Yes, we actually have a form for that, like a Google form that you can find on our website.

Speaker 1 5:57

So I can't say it now.

Speaker 2 6:00

I mean you can?

Speaker 1 6:02

Let's do this one. How about? A duck walks into a pharmacy. He says give me some chapstick, put it on my bill. Come on, that's good, right, guys? This is fantastic In a world of negativity and we know how much negativity there is out there it's so impressive that you all came up with this idea to bring a little positivity and joy. What can we do in our community to help spread the word about this? What are some things that we can do? What do you think, brooke?

Speaker 6 6:35

Well, one thing I know you know our school shared it on Facebook and that's gotten a lot of shares. So I think sharing it through social media we've had other teachers from other districts tell us that their whole class has called the kind line on speakerphone and I think anytime word of mouth can share a positive message is great. I know you mentioned getting some stickers.

Speaker 1 6:59

Absolutely.

Speaker 6 7:00

On the Bondarant Middle School website. They actually created a kind line web page too Great, and it's connected to our site. If we could somehow connect the kind line with our district website.

Speaker 5 7:12

I think that would be super helpful Done.

Speaker 6 7:15

And just any chance to get it out there that we see we'd love to have the opportunity.

Speaker 1 7:20

I love it, and we're gonna be purchasing stickers with the kind line with the phone number and the logo, much like you see on the shirt, and we're gonna get that information out as quickly as we can and we're also gonna share it on all of our social media platforms and, hopefully, this podcast Anyone who's listening to this podcast, please call the kind line. We need it a little. Pick me up but also share this wonderful student led initiative. Anything that our students do, that they create on their own, is just so impressive and I'm so thankful that you all are our students, and I think it's time for some fun facts. Are we ready for a quick fun fact question and answer session? Are we ready? Yeah, all right. What is your favorite candy bar? We'll start here. Go around the table.

Speaker 2 8:09

Hershey's cookies and cream.

Speaker 1 8:10

Oh boom, Good one.

Speaker 2 8:12

Probably.

Speaker 3 8:12

Reese's.

Speaker 1 8:13

Reese's is like the most popular one in the world. That's good yeah.

Speaker 4 8:16

You gotta go with, like the normal Hershey's bar.

Speaker 1 8:19

Normal Hershey bar. I like it.

Speaker 5 8:21

Almond Joy without the almond.

Speaker 1 8:24

Wow, I think that's a Mounds bar right? I'm not sure. Yeah, almond joy. So you just spit the almond out. That's fair, brooke.

Speaker 6 8:32

Kit Kat all the way for me. I love it.

Speaker 1 8:34

I love it All. Right, next one what is your favorite breakfast cereal?

Speaker 2 8:40

Lucky Charms.

Speaker 4 8:42

Also Lucky Charms. It's gotta be Lucky Charms.

Speaker 1 8:44

Oh, my gosh Fruit loops, all right. I'm glad we had a change.

Speaker 6 8:48

Yes, Cookie Crisp.

Speaker 1 8:50

Cookie Crisp. Wow, that's solid. See, when you get old, like me, it's like grape nuts or brand flakes. So all right, last question. Last question what is your favorite movie of all time? I'm gonna start with Brooke this time.

Speaker 6 9:06

Oh, that's a tough one. I'm gonna have to go with Pretty Woman.

Speaker 1 9:11

Oh, pretty Woman, Very solid Yep.

Speaker 5 9:14

Hidden Figures.

Speaker 1 9:16

Great, that's a very inspirational one too. I love that.

Speaker 4 9:20

I don't know. I'm probably gonna say like the Hunger Games.

Speaker 1 9:23

Okay, hunger Games Great.

Speaker 3 9:25

I like a lot of movies, but maybe like Narnia.

Speaker 1 9:29

Which one? Narnia, narnia, okay, great.

Speaker 2 9:32

Either the Hunger Games or, like maybe, barbie.

Speaker 1 9:35

Barbie was pretty good from everything I've heard. I haven't seen it yet, but, guys, it's been fantastic getting to talk with you today and sharing this wonderful project. I so appreciate you. Thank you for being with us and thank you everyone for listening and we will be back with you soon. Thanks so much. Well, that wraps it up for this week's episode of FCS Unscripted. Thank you for listening in and I encourage you to subscribe and follow this weekly podcast where we will share updates, information and interviews with hashtag. Everyone the wonderful students and staff who make up one team, fcs have a great week everybody.