“Both have built that community trust, so they are very valuable to the school,” Ms. Woolweaver said.
Ms. Stoddard and Ms. Rangel are seasoned employees at Glen Avon. They have worked at the school for 31 and 41 years respectively. Teacher on Special Assignment John Taylor, who has been at the elementary school for 26 years, has worked closely with Ms. Stoddard and Ms. Rangel.
“Like the sun and the moon, they never change. They’re always shining and always lit up and they are always kind to everyone,” Mr. Taylor said.
Ms. Stoddard and Ms. Rangel get along very well.
“We have been called salt and pepper forever because we just clicked,” said Ms. Stoddard.
They model kindness by continuously working together and turning to each other as they work to support students.
“We can go to each other when we are having a bad day… We tell the kids, ‘You can talk to your friends if you are having a bad day, it's ok, everyone has bad days.” Ms. Stoddard said.
About eight years ago, Ms. Rangel started overseeing the community garden at Glen Avon. She invites students to tend to the garden during lunch or recess. They plant seeds, repot and water plants, and harvest fruits and vegetables. Ms. Rangel integrates valuable kindness lessons when students are in the garden.
“We have our buckets, our shovels, and we don’t have enough. I’ll pour one bucket and you can come and you do one. It’s about sharing in the garden,” she said.
Ms. Stoddard and Ms. Rangel are kind for kindness' sake. They recently helped a student who was having a hard time.
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“I reached out to a friend and she donated clothes with tags…we got together and reached out to the dad..we told him..this is for free,” Ms. Rangel said.
“They did not tell a single person,” Ms. Woolweaver said. “I only know because I kind of overheard it.”
“It makes life so much easier if everybody is kind… even an affirmation (like), ‘Oh you look nice today.’ I tell the kids how important that is because a lot of kids don’t hear that.” Ms. Stoddard said.
