Mesa Elementary School
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2026,
was Kindness Day, and the Mustangs at Mesa Elementary got something they'd been wishing for all year: their very own Buddy Bench.
The wish started with the students, who had spent the school year learning about kindness with counselor Naomi Moddell. Then came a moment of pure serendipity—parent volunteer Christine Chen discovered Resort 2 Kindness online and recognized our founder's last name as belonging to an old school friend. One conversation later, she was connected straight to Elva Pellouchoud. From there, Principal Josh Baldner—a natural-born Kindness Ambassador himself—took the idea and ran with it, championing the bench for his students every step of the way.
Rachelle Krumpeck, who co-hosted the celebration for Principal Baldner, opened with a line the whole gym was still repeating: "If you can be anything, be kind. Unless you can be awesome—then be awesomely kind." Elva, joined by her sisters Sarah and Mary, arrived with a crew of Kindness Ambassadors. Together, they shared the story of the Silver Fox, the symbol that honors her late father's gentle spirit. Then came the big moment: the unveiling of a one-of-a-kind bench made just for the Mustangs. A few of Mesa's own fifth graders hopped up first, showing the whole school exactly how the bench works, one small act of kindness at a time.
That bench now carries a double dedication—to Barbara & Patrick Pellouchoud, and to that very fifth-grade class, this year's reigning kindness champions, sent off to middle school with a lasting reminder that nobody should ever have to sit alone. To keep the message going, R2K left behind Buddy Bench coloring books and stickers for every class still to come.
A heartfelt thank you to this year's program—Rachelle Krumpeck, Christine Chen, Naomi Moddell—and to Principal Josh Baldner—each of whom shows the Mesa community that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Want a Buddy Bench for your school? Click here and fill out the nomination form at the bottom of the page.
