Bullying has reached epic proportions but never before have schools and communities come together to combat it like they are doing today. So many organizations and school administrations are working to eliminate bullying. Schools and school buses are the primary places where bullying occurs because children who are a little bit different stick out more in big groups, making them easy to target.

Since the film, “Bully” came out, it has inspired many to take action. As part of The Bully Project, one courageous boy with autism did just that by confronting his tormentors.
In the video filmed at Jake’s school, Jake is seen in gym class trying to participate and be part of a team. He is often seen by himself and being ignored. The video clip was made as part of The Bully Project, a social campaign created to help end bullying.

Jake stammers a little through his speech to the rest of his gym class but what he has to say is poignant and meaningful. He calls the other kids out for not seeing him for who he is but rather as a target. He tells them that they always leave him out and don’t him or what he says any attention. He tells them that he tries to be their friend but he doesn’t think they want to be his friend. Jake says it hurts that they don’t want to get to know him.

At about this point in his speech, the camera pans to some of the kids. A few are listening with somber expressions. Other giggle and laugh. Jake sees it and calls them out, ‘I see you guys laughing.’ The giggles stop.

After making the video, Jake told the filmmaker that things have gotten better. He explains that bullying has made a major impact on his life but since making the movie, he’s been able to make a lot of friends. He advises other kids with autism to stand up to the bullies and to try not to give a reaction to the bullying. If they can’t get results on their own, he suggests bringing an adult into the situation. He knows it’s hard because kids with autism don’t handle stress as well as other kids. That’s okay, he says because they can get through it and they’ll be awesome. Actually, Jake says they are already awesome.

Children who routinely exercise are frequently much better in school than their counterparts for a variety of reasons and a study released today confirms that belief. The study shows that children who exercise either at recess, playtime, or at home are significantly more likely to do well in school for a number of reasons. Of course healthier living is also associated with it say researchers which is very good news for thousands of people.

Exercise is an important part of everyone’s lives and doctors say that many people, including kids, simply do not get enough exercise which may also be why so many kids do poorly in schools. Doctors are now recommending that parents encourage their children to exercise and eat healthy both for health reasons as well as educational reasons. Researchers say that children are likely more motivated and more energized in school when they frequently exercise which is the most likely reason as to why there is such strong correlation. Many officials are encouraging schools to begin new physical education programs that promote exercise and wellness in order to improve school performance as well as children’s health. A follow up study is planned into if there is actually a chemical link between exercise and school performance but for now most people are simply happy to see that there is a solid link between exercise and school. This is great news as it means parents have more reasons to encourage children to be healthy.

Larry Powell is the superintendent of the Fresno County School District in California and this week he did something that shocked everyone in the district. Powell made an astonishing announcement that will help resolve some major budget issues in the district; he gave up his salary for the entirety of his remaining years at the school district.

Powell’s current contract will expire in 2015 and he says that he will not be accepting any type of salary or pay from now until at least the end of his term. In the three years that he gave up his salary he will save the school district approximately $800,000 in pay which Powell says he simply doesn’t need or want. This incredibly generous act has surprised and shocked the entire school district and it will definitely have a big impact on the district’s budget for the next few years.

Powell says his reasoning for giving up the salary is that he simply doesn’t need it at this point in his life. Powell is planning to retire in 2015 when his current term ends and according to his latest press release he simply feels that it is more worthwhile for him to leave the money for the school district to keep expanding and adding new programs. Throughout his career Powell has always been regarded as a giving man and with this final act of kindness he has sealed his legacy of kindness by giving the school district their largest contribution ever.

A school in Long Island New York announced this week that their experiment to reduce power consumption at the school was successful. The project was reportedly able to save the school over on third of a million dollars in a year simply by putting up reminders on sticky notes all around the schools in the district.

The Mount Sinai school district decided to implement this unique energy saving tactic last year when the district started facing serious budget cuts; officials reportedly though of the idea while brainstorming for potential budget savers. Shortly after thinking of the idea the school district put up small sticky notes over each light switch encouraging teachers, students, and staff to turn off the power when nobody is in the room.

Since 2007 the school district has seen an incredible decrease of 30% in power consumption and this program is the only program they have instituted. As news of the school district’s success spread around the country numerous other school districts have begun implementing similar programs. In the end schools are finally realizing that saving power is much easier than anticipated; it doesn’t require and special equipment or tools as long as children and taught the proper principals. In the long run this could even lead to less power consumption by the children as they get older and eventually move on to live on their own. For now though schools are simply happy to see a reduction in power costs.

Allan Guei is an 18 year old basketball player who has been getting some serious attention thanks to his incredible heart this week. Guei was given the opportunity to compete in a free throw competition which would determine the winner of a large college scholarship and he won thanks to his shooting ability; the real surprise however was what he has decided to do with the scholarship.

Under current rules Guei was allowed to keep the 40,000 dollar scholarship as well as any other scholarships he had earned but he decided that he was not going to do that. Guei announced shortly after winning the massive scholarship that he would be giving it in part to other competitors in the competition. Guei said in an interview that because he had already received a full ride scholarship from his school of choice there was no need for him to waste the scholarship, that is why he announced at his school’s graduation ceremony that he would be giving the money to his teammates that had competed.

Each of the 7 other competitors will be receiving an equal cut from the 40,000 dollars to pay for schooling at a college of their choice. Guei really shocked his school with the announcement that he would be giving back and his unbelievable kindness has not gone unnoticed as it is now gaining worldwide attention; few people are as compassionate as he is so it is nice to see a young man give back like this.

70 year old Bob Speed will be officially receiving his GED this week over 50 years after he dropped out of school as a young boy. The best part of the story however is that Speed completed his GED along with his 21 year old grandson, Danny Johnson.

Speed and Johnson reportedly began working on their GEDs are the same time because they felt it would be good to have a partner throughout the entire process. They both agree that having each other for support and encouragement helped a lot and that just makes their graduation even more special.

According to both men the idea actually came about when Speed’s wife, Johnson’s grandmother, suggested that the two of them work on their GEDs during the winter since they wouldn’t be busy. The two men apparently liked the idea and began working on the GED program together.

Members of the GED class the two were in say that they were basically inseparable during the entire class and some even joked that they were twins who were simply separated in age by a few decades. In the end both Bob and Danny say the experience was a great bonding experience and it brought the much closer together; they are both happy to have taken on the challenge and successfully earned their GEDs despite having dropped out of school at one point or another. This just goes to show that anything is possible if you work hard for what you want.