Kindness Counts at Marblehead School

All the schoolchildren at Marblehead Elementary School gathered for an assembly Friday morning to cap off a week of kindness and respect, dubbed Blue Ribbon Week.

Organized throughout the city's schools, Blue Ribbon Week lasts until this Monday and is largely a campaign against bullying. The Cool to Be Kind club at San Clemente High School received a proclamation by the City Council earlier this month designating Blue Ribbon Week.

"It's an anti-bullying campaign, but we focused on the kindness aspect of it," said Anne Weber of the San Clemente Family Parent-Teacher Association. "We're just getting the whole San Clemente family together."

Weber added that with younger students, teachers and parents are focusing more on manners and respectful behavior.

Councilman Tim Brown spoke at the Friday assembly, and the students put together a paper chain they made, each link of which bore a message of kindness and respect.

The chain stretched across the back of the school building and curved around part of the basketball court.