California kitchen supervisor creates manners competition inspiring students to say 'please' and 'thank you'

CLOVIS, Calif. -- A kitchen supervisor is serving some important lessons to her students. Manners are on the menu at Miramonte Elementary School.

"They maybe weren't learning to say please and thank you other places and they weren't learning to use their words properly to speak in sentences and things like that," said Heather Fullbright. "So it was something we thought we could help with."

Fullbright came up with a curriculum to make sure students were learning the essentials.

"They come through the lunch line, and they have to use manners," Fullbright said. "They have to say please and thank you. They have to be kind to each other and standstill."

Now it's a monthly competition for pre-school and kindergartners.

"They liked competing with each other," Fullbright said. "The teachers got involved a little bit and were like OK, our class needs to win."

But Fullbright says she wants the kids to know it's about more than just the manners.

"Understand it's always best to be kind and put that kindness first," she said. "Sometimes, just saying please or thank you to someone, it changes their day, it changes that person's outlook."

Fullbright was one of the recipients of the Crystal Award. It's the district's highest honor for employees who go above and beyond for their students.