Credit Union Helps Make Kindness a Habit for Elementary School Kids

As the saying goes, it’s not what happens to you, but how you respond to what happens to you that really matters. Tragedy can propel massive change in people, and often forces them to reevaluate their purpose in life. For Teri Noble, a second lease at life inspired her to re-define her purpose by fighting bullying in schools and around her local community.

Noble was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 1, 2017, when a gunman opened fire on the crowd of festival attendees, killing 58 people and injuring a total of 851. Noble and her friends were fortunate enough to get out alive.

Her drive home from Las Vegas to her home town of Libby, Mont., allowed her time to reflect on what she had just experienced. She wondered how someone could be so broken to commit such a heinous act. On the drive, she made a conscious decision to be thankful for escaping with her life and decided to turn the almost unbearable tragedy into something positive. “I had to think of a way to be positive about getting out alive … and do something positive in return,” Noble said.

When she got home, Noble learned her 10-year-old grandson had gotten a black eye – another student had punched him in the face and told him to “die.” Noble said she remembers thinking, “Oh my God, a 10 year old is saying this to another 10 year old. So that’s when I said, ‘Nope, bullying is my calling, [I have] to see what I can do there.’”

This sequence of events catapulted Noble into action. She met up with her friend Devi McCully, a local business owner and board member for the $116 million Lincoln County Credit Union in Libby, and together they partnered with Libby Elementary School’s ROAR program, which stands for “Respect, Organization, Attitude, Responsibility.”

With $5,000 of her own money, Noble seeded #KindIsTheNewCool, a program that rewards students for demonstrating kindness around the school. Teachers wear #KindIsTheNewCool T-shirts on Mondays, the week day when students’ names are called over the intercom to recognize them for kind acts they performed during the week. Those students may then take a trip to the principal’s office to choose a prize – such as movie passes, ice cream cones or #KindIsTheNewCool swag – all of which are donated by community partners like Lincoln County CU. The credit union donated $500 to the program last year and again this year, Noble said.

If you walk into the elementary school, there are signs everywhere listing ways to be kind, Noble said. “Part of the reason that I stuck with the grade-level school is that I thought if we start here, maybe the kids will carry it forward to the high school, because the bullying behind the screen is just horrendous,” she explained.

Staff members of Lincoln County CU also wear their #KindIsTheNewCool T-shirts every Monday to continue spreading the word about the program. “We are helping spread the word and bring awareness to such an important thing that impacts students at such a young age that can carry them through their whole life,” Lindsay Beaty, president/CEO for Lincoln CU, said.

“We are always looking for unique ways to get involved in our community to make an impact, and we loved what [Noble] was doing and wanted to support it in any way we could. Even if it only turns one life around, it would be worth it.”

The response from other community members has been positive as well, Noble said. “I’m surprised at how well this is reaching the children. The children are taking it home to their households. That’s the positive part about it. At Christmas time, I had mothers come up to me who said, ‘Hey, you’re the “be kind” lady. My daughter put that on her Christmas list.’ One of the community health centers has reached out and wants to get in on the program too.”

Interest continues to grow about the program. Recently, a former college football player and Libby resident reached out to Noble to share that he was once bullied, and that he would be willing to talk to school children about the lasting impacts of bullying and the importance of being kind.

Noble is also in the process of turning her initiative into a 5013(c)(3) charitable organization so she can continue to positively impact as many people as possible.

“If I do this, [it could make] just one child not grow up to do the awful thing that man did,” Noble said.

By changing just one life, she knows she will have accomplished what she set out to do – take control of her circumstances and turn a horrible tragedy into a triumph.

Tahira Hayes is a correspondent-at-large for CU Times. She can be reached at thayes@cutimes.com