Earlier in the school year, Rep. Stivers had been sent a message from Jessica King, the mother of one of East’s second-graders, seven-year-old Kadyn King. The Congressmen first met and visited with Kadyn and then taught the entire class how a bill becomes law.

Just before Con. Stivers arrived at the elementary school, Jessica King explained why Stivers was coming to see her son Kadyn. Also present was Kadyn’s father, Greg King, and Kadyn’s grandmother, Darlene Hambel.

“Kadyn was talking to us about having to get rid of some of his old toys. Kadyn said he was going to sale his old toys and give the money to the Angel Tree organization,” revealed Mrs. King. “Kadyn went upstairs and came back 15 minutes later.”

(Angel Tree is a program of Prison Fellowship that connects parents in prison with their children through the delivery of Christmas gifts. In most cases, local church volunteers purchase and deliver gifts and the Gospel to children in the name of their prisoner-parent.)

Kadyn was saying to his mother, “We are alike, we are alike. I just saw Congressman Stivers’s ad on U-Tube, and we both do good things for the world! I am going to sale my toys and put that money with my other money and give it to Angel Tree. We both do good things for others!”

When Congressman Stivers arrived, the first thing he did was seek out young Kadyn King. Kadyn had no idea that his mother had written a short letter to Mr. Stivers, and she was shocked that Stivers wanted to come to Morgan County and meet with her son.

After Mr. Stivers explained to the class about the thoughtful charity work Kadyn had done, Stivers thanked Kadyn, in front of the class, for thinking of others and being so generous with his money. Congressman Stivers, Kadyn and Kadyn’s family then had some photos taken with Rep. Stivers.

Congressman Stivers then told the class that October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Stivers compared the kind and generous act that Kadyn did to how bad it is to be bullied. He said it is no fun being bullied, it is a bad idea to become a bully. The class heard both perspectives, like doing good deeds and helping others, like Kadyn, or treating others badly, like a bully.

Representative Stivers then divided the class into three groups. Some were congressmen, some were senators and Kadyn was the president.

Congressman Stivers made learning about how a bill becomes a law into a fun game that all of the students enjoyed participating in, and he was a huge hit with the students.

The students had spent the week before Con. Stivers arrived by comparing Mr. Stivers to President Abe Lincoln. The class presented Mr. Stivers a book, Mr. Whiskers.

Abraham Lincoln was the first President of the United States to wear a beard. What gave him the idea was a letter he received from an eleven-year-old girl from Westfield, New York named Grace Bedell.

“Dear Sir,” she wrote, “…if you will let your whiskers grow I will try to get my brothers to vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you.”

Rep. Stivers genuinely appreciated the gift of the book and then thanked the students for their thoughtful gesture.

When the class was almost over, Representative Stivers asked each student to say, “I won’t bully anybody.”