Kindness 101 How imagination can take kids anywhere

Now to our Kindness 101 series where Steve Hartman and his kids share stories built around kindness and character and the people who have mastered those qualities. So what's today's lesson? It's imagination. That's why we played that song. This week we revisit the story of a first grade class who use their imagination to take a very exciting field trip without ever leaving their classroom. Good morning. This is Merrill. And this is our word of the day, imagination. Emmett, definition please. Imagination is the ability to come up with pictures or ideas using nothing but your mind. So you can't see it, you can't feel it, but it's still there. Yeah. You know when I was little I had a Superman costume and when I put that on and went outside and run I could circle the whole globe in like a second. Has your imagination ever taken you places? Um well when I was little we used to play this game when you were driving where we would pretend that Jack Frost from the fairy books I used to read was chasing us. He did. And you would swerve on the road and now I realize that was probably pretty dangerous but it was a very gentle swerve but I had to get away from Jack Frost. I don't know how you're going to explain to the cops that Jack Frost is chasing you. That's great. But imagination isn't just child's play. As we get older it fuels our creativity and helps us solve problems. So parents and teachers need to help us grow our imagination. Like the teacher in this story, my role model for fostering imagination. You may walk to recess. At the Trinity Leadership School near Dallas, Sonja White's first graders were flying high. Come all the way back and walk. Still reliving their amazing one-day field trip south of the border. Where are you going? Mexico. To Mexico? I love your outfit. It was my first time on a plane. We went inside a cloud. I saw the ocean. Is that your first time seeing the ocean? At this point you've got to be wondering how could a school afford this? What kind of teacher does it take to fly a class of first graders to Mexico for a day? A very clever one. So just to be clear you did not go to Mexico? We did not. You did not get on a plane? We did not. You never left the class? We did not. What you're about to see is a testament to the power of imagination and the magic teachers have to harness it. Okay let's find out. After Sonja's students told her their one wish was to fly on a plane, she went full throttle on the pretend. Boarding pass and your passport please. Created travel documents for each child and then boarded them on their flight to Mexico. Okay guys we are now at 13,000 feet. You may take out a snack. We had a little turbulence. Boy did not scare me. But my friend Lorenzo had a rough landing. Really? What happened to him? He was like. The buy-in really was remarkable. One of my students saw somebody that night and they said what are you doing here? I thought you're in Mexico and he said yeah we were we got back at three and that's when I was like they really think we went to Mexico. I'm riding you from Mexico. Teachers everywhere could use more resources but the best always seem to figure out a way to take Did this fuel your desire for more travel? Yes. Do you know North Korea? Yeah sure. Probably I do not want to go there next. I guess even pretend flights come with travel warnings. Sonja White joins us now. Hello welcome to our classroom. Hi. So I heard that Southwest Airlines reached out to you. They invited my class there to take a tour to actually get on a plane. Welcome aboard. The plane didn't take off but they did sit down and they were served a snack and a drink like we were in flight. Did your kids go on any other trips either figuratively or literally? They did. During Black History Month we went to Nigeria. And what did you do when you got to Nigeria? In Nigeria we went to a safari and then we had African food. Do you ever still pretend even when you're not with your class? I pretended actually the other day that I was married to an NFL coach and I was going to a Cowboys game. My husband definitely works for the post office. That's great. That's great for everybody but your husband. Right. All right. Thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it. Thank you. You know this lesson just gave me an idea. We have a lake vacation planned this summer but maybe we could just pretend to go instead. Or maybe you could just pretend that I'm funny. We'll see you next time. Until then stay kind. Oh my gosh. These kids are like we're going to the lake dad. That's right. I love that. Oh I love this story so much. Great teacher. What a wonderful. Sonia White. I like how she also in her adulthood is still imagining using her imagination. As we all do. Do we? Really? You don't have thoughts like that Vlad? Carried away by the NFL player? No I do. Yes we do use our imagination at all points throughout the day and throughout our lives. But I just love how you fuel that imagination as a teacher when you're a young child. Now the lessons that Sonia White is teaching these kids will last for a while. But part of how she continues to connect is to be a kid on some level herself which we all should retain. Exactly right. But how about the kid saying some people had a rough land. I also like when Steve is talking to them and he's very serious when she's like maybe North Korea? Maybe not. Maybe not. We love you Steve.