It's just a simple sketch at first glance: a heart encircled by a thin ring of connected arrows.

But in the eyes of 18 transitional kindergarten students at Tropical Elementary on Merritt Island, the logo is much more. It reminds them, every time they see it, to be kind — and that everyone can use a little more goodness in everyday life.

So, the class — politely, of course — would like to ask everyone across the country to help them spread the good word, and get the design named the National Symbol of Kindness.

The kids, ages 5 to 7, and their teacher, Barbara Wilcox, are pushing their creation through a petition at change.org. As of early Friday, Jan. 25, more than 200 people had signed on.

The petition states, in part: "Having a recognizable, easy to recreate symbol will remind people to be kind. We already have and use symbols for love, peace and happiness and a kindness symbol will add to our national focus of being kind. Please sign our petition to encourage our nation to declare the Kindness Symbol as the National Symbol of Kindness. Thank you."

In addition, a proclamation stating their case was broached to local municipalities and to Commissioner Bryan Lober, who plans to introduce the resolution at the Brevard County Commission's Feb. 7 meeting.

Wilcox said the effort started as part of her classroom approach, with an initiative called Together Kind: "I do a lot of service learning with them, talking about how to be kind to people," she said.

As they talked with Wilcox, the children confirmed they recognize the meaning behind common symbols. such as the peace sign. The happy face. The heart, for love. And yes, they agreed: Sharing a kindness symbol with the world would be, well, a really nice thing to do.

Four options were created, and, via Facebook, email and a website, togetherkind.com, the class asked for votes. They received about 1,000 responses, from 25 states (and England and Ireland), to decide the winner.

The children use social media only through parents and their teacher. But they're learning the power of communication. They're selling $1 magnets adorned with the logo. They're learning about geography along with how a petition works, too.

"Every day we look to see how many people have signed the petition, and we highlight, on a map, all the states people are from," said Wilcox, who's been teaching for 22 years.

"When we were at 197 signatures, they had come from 23 different states."

And signers are, not surprisingly, happy about the drive.

Frank Bailey of Gotha, Florida, wrote, "I’m proud to sign such an altruistic cause such as this! Let’s make T-shirts!"

"The world needs kindness. Always be kind," wrote Diana Swords of Kingman, Arizona.

Next step for the movement, fingers crossed: D.C.

"If we can get enough people to put their names on the petition to say they want this, it will go on automatically to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Marco Rubio, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Mitch McConnell," Wilcox said.

Rep. Bill Posey's response to word of the effort was positive: “Being a good neighbor helps set the foundation for a strong community. It’s something we should encourage in all our children," he said Friday.

No matter how far it goes, the project has been a great experience for the children, Wilcox said.

"It shows they can make decisions and choices that affect other people," she said. "But if this becomes a national symbol ... they'd be thrilled. 'Hey, we did that.' It would be very powerful to them."

Contact Kennerly at 321-242-3692 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @bybrittkennerly or at Facebook.com/bybrittkennerly.