Mr. Todd is a teacher at Brown Elementary School. He cares for his students very much and wants the best for them.

Hello! I'm Mr. Todd!

But sometimes, the students don't want the best for each other. They can be pretty mean! But let's see what Sam,

Francisco, and Billy are doing at lunch today.

"Oh, my mama gave me tacos al pastor and beans today."

"Hey Francisco, what do you have for lunch? Anything you want to swap? My mom packed tuna salad today. Yuck!"

“What kind of lunch is that? Who brings a taco to school? Here in America nobody eats tacos at school. Did anybody tell you that?”

"This is all there was to eat today, and it's my favorite..."

“And why is it in a bag from the grocery store? My Mom always throws those away. Why can't yours get you a real lunch bag?”

Mr. Todd wasn't happy with Sam and Billy's behavior. They were being disrespectful* of Francisco's culture.* They needed to learn how to be tolerant*, so Mr.Todd stepped in.

"Hey Sam, have you ever had Mexican tacos before?"

"No Mr. Todd, I haven't."

"Well, let me tell you: they're delicious! And in Mexican culture, tacos are a food that is eaten all the time. Doing cultural things, such as eating tacos, can help Francisco connect to his Mexican heritage even while he's in America."

Billy, Francisco is like you in some ways, but he's his own person too! Being Chicano like Francisco can be confusing, since he is part of American culture and also part of Mexican culture. So Billy, when you make fun of Francisco’s lunch, you make him feel like his heritage is embarrassing. Francisco’s heritage is just as important as yours. Be tolerant.”

"Oh, I never thought of it that way!"

"But Mr. Todd, why can't Francisco just be more like us?"

"Francisco, I'm really sorry for making fun of your lunch, it wasn't the right thing to do. Now I understand that eating tacos for lunch for you is just like me eating tuna for lunch!"

"I'm sorry too Fransico. Being Chicano can be really cool! And now that I think about it that taco looks yummy!"

"I would love to share my taco with you guys! It's delicious."

Francisco, this taco is so yummy!

Yeah, this is delicious! I should've never made fun of your lunch. I'm sorry!

That same day Claire was in math class. She was seated near the back of the room and was having trouble seeing the board.

 “What's wrong, four eyes? you can't see the board? What, are your eyes broken?”

 Claire was so hurt she didn't even know what to say. She instantly burst into tears. It was not her fault that she had to wear glasses.

 Mr. Todd stopped the lesson when he saw that Claire was crying. He asked what had happened and Claire explained the hurtful comments Matt made about her having to wear glasses.

Are you okay Claire? Why are you crying?

Matt is making fun of me for having glasses.

 Even I have glasses! I'm just wearing contacts today. SO many people have glasses and it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's important to be kind to everyone, even those that don't have the same abilities or disabilities* as us.

Now the students have gone to recess! I see Kelly, Lilly, and Tina. Let's see what they're up to...