Basic skills teacher Judith O'Donnell got the idea to invite Bren Bataclan to Jefferson Elementary School after reading the book Bren Bataclan Smile Artist by Mia Lewis to her students.  The book is about an artist named Bren Bataclan who gives away paintings around the world for free by leaving them on the streets with a note attached that says, "This painting is yours if you promise to smile at random people more often."  The students were curious after reading this book about his ideas of "spreading kindness" so they reached out to Batalcan and the idea for an SEF grant was born.

      Bataclan visited Jefferson Elementary School for a full week and presented 3 assemblies to all students one day about his actions of sharing art to spread kindness and then he painted a mural for the remaining 4 days.  This visit was funded by an SEF grant.   Each fifth grader at Jefferson painted an object or idea given to them by the artist while in the assembly. The mural Bataclan painted in the halls of Jefferson Elementary was then based on a collection of the 5th grade students individual drawings. Bataclan's life message that he installed in the students of Jefferson that week was to make a difference through kindness and this is reflected in the mural.