Success Stories

Rated 5 out of 5

Preparing Students for Life

"After 26 years, I've learned that education isn't just about preparing students for the next grade—it's about preparing them for life. The combination of Character Counts and Kindness 101 creates students who:
value themselves and others as inherently worthy, understand that character is a choice they make every day, see themselves as problem solvers and community builders, possess the emotional resilience to navigate challenges, and demonstrate grace, courtesy, and respect as natural behaviors."

– Sean T.

Just What My Class Needs

"The Kindness 101 videos are just what my class needs to keep kindness in the front of their mind. I believe it is the highlight of the day for some of my students. I know they look forward to the videos and really it is the only time that some of my students participate. This year we have been tracking all of the states after we watch the videos so we can see how close and how far away the acts of kindness are. Kids are always motivated and engaged from when I click play on the video. They are always eager to participate in discussions and oftentimes we journal too. I do feel they are learning and growing. I even have a handful of kids try and share acts of kindness around our own campus."

– Leslie M.

Students Are Genuinely Engaged

"I start every class with a “Steve Hartman”. I float, so it gives me a chance to get settled and take attendance. Consistently, students are genuinely engaged. If I forget or don’t have one planned, they remind me very quickly. Past students come and ask me to tell their current teachers about them. I’ve put together a list in my notes app of each one that have seemed to make the largest impact."

– Amanda T.

A Treasured Part of Our Day!

"In 2022 I started showing videos from “On the Road with Steve Hartman” to my reading classes. I was looking for a way to incorporate social emotional learning, on demand writing, and promote kindness within my classroom. The videos quickly became the most treasured part of our day!"

– Erinn W.

Huge Impact

"We are just finishing our fourth week of the school year, and Kindness 101 is already making a huge impact on the culture of my classroom and the hearts of my students (and me)!"

– Karleen E.

We Watch An Episode a Day!

"This is my 36th year teaching and we watch an episode a day. Sometimes two - and I am not gonna lie - I CRY EVERY SINGLE DAY!!"

– Kelly A.

Impact On Culture

"I’m a 3rd-grade teacher and our students participate in Kindness101 every single day — we absolutely love Steve’s lessons and the impact they’ve had on our school culture."

– Jolene D.

Wonderful Conversations

"We watch a story at least once a week if not two and have wonderful conversations. Our kids need to see more of this."

– Andi S.

Valuable Life Lesons

"I love and look forward to Kindness 101. I loved each episode from the beginning. Watching you interact with your kids and all the valuable life lessons that you all teach. Now as your kids grow and the episodes continue, there is always a heart felt story to be told and a lesson to be learned, no matter your age."

– Diane L.

Genuine, Rich Discussion

"Love the messages from your videos. My students are always engaged in each story and we have some genuine, rich discussion following each one. Thank you so much for sharing these videos!"

– Keral L.

My Students Love the Videos

"My students love the videos, and I say at the end of the day "Clean the room as if Steve On the Road with Steve Hartman was visiting us tomorrow morning!"

– Bettina G.

Awesome Resource

"I howed my kiddos the video on Tact yesterday. It’s one of my favorites! We laughed a lot! They loved how Steve’s kids told him that his hair was gray and not brown as he imagined. LOL! Steve, you will be pleased to know that my 4th grade team spent this summer mapping out our SEL lessons and we ALL use this awesome resource weekly!"

– Kaz W.

A Place in My Classroom

"I'm just so grateful for this series and the place it's found in my classroom."

– Alexandra K.

Getting to Know Students

"The students love the videos and it helps me get to know my students outside of the curriculum."

– Karen L.

It’s a Movement!

"It is contagious!! Many years ago, I began sharing just a few Steve Hartman videos with my students to promote inclusion and kindness. And now Kindness 101 it’s a movement across our grade level. It is the absolute best way to start every single day. And I am grateful for all of those who have helped make this dream become a reality."

– Nancy R.

Inspired

"After having an episode filmed in my classroom last year it inspired myself and principal of my building to build Kindness 101/CHARACTER COUNTS!/SEL into the everyday schedule of the school, so all grade levels K-5th are having the conversations. 15-20 minutes have been built into the morning where the entire school and all students and staff are learning about character. We use the videos, some of the writing prompts and also built our own “lessons” to go along with the character trait. I never would have thought that myself just taken the time to show Kindness 101 videos in my classroom would have exploded into a school wide thing. I always said it doesn’t matter if I teach math or ELA if my students don’t understand or know how to be kind. Great things have come out of this program. Thank you!

– Melissa L.

Inspired

"It all began five years ago when I first saw Steve Hartman surprise 5th grade teacher Derek Brown with a surprise visit to his Arizona classroom. Mr. Brown had been showing Steve's On the Road videos for over ten years in his classroom to help teach his students Social and Emotional Learning skills. That video opened my eyes to showing these On the Road videos which I've enjoyed for years, in my classroom to help teach my students SEL skills. It also introduced me to a wonderful caring group of teachers on the Kindness101 Facebook page who I have been sharing and communicating with even since. We watch one of Steve Hartman's videos every day now, as do many of my colleagues. This led to starting a Kindness Club at our school two years ago, meeting and through their kindness doing service projects throughout the school year to make our school and community a better place."

– Neil L.

Defining feature of our school culture

"Every Monday morning at Franklin Middle School (FMS), something special happens. For 20 intentional minutes, the entire school community pauses to reconnect to who they are and who they want to be. What started as a one-month experiment has grown into a defining feature of our school culture, rooted in kindness, ownership, and belonging. What started as a 20-minute meeting has become the heartbeat of Franklin Middle School, and much of the credit for this impact is due to the Kindness 101 Stories from Steve Hartman's efforts in highlighting the smallest, yet proudest moments of humanity!"

– Josh W.

Finding common ground

"Kindness 101 is an invaluable resource to me and my students. I am a Self-Contained ESE Teacher. I teach a Behavioral Focus Unit in Santa Rosa County Florida. Many of my students experience difficulty expressing emotions or discussing emotions. Some of my students come from difficult backgrounds and find it difficult to trust others. I find that the Kindness 101 lessons as presented on this website help me find common ground with my student and my student's parent/guardians. The video's are very engaging. My students love the videos. The videos help my student engage with the topic and open up about their vulnerabilities through their journal entries and class discussions. I do not believe we would be having the conversations we are able to experience without the help of these videos. The journal prompts and parent connection activities also help develop a relationship between school and home. I love this resource and use it daily in my Unique Skills classroom. Please keep developing this resource as it is very useful and helpful to many teachers."

– Wes U.

Insightful conversations

"I have been showing the videos to my Navigating the Road to Life class, which includes juniors and seniors. They are loving the videos, and we have some great, insightful conversations. One junior stated, "I love watching the videos because it makes me change my mindset. Sometimes this can last the day or for a couple of days."

– Kris K.