This story is a part of Babble’s #7DaysofGoodness series, where we’re gathering feel-good stories to help bring a smile to your day. Find them all here.
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One high school in Michigan has made it their mission to make their small part of the world a kinder, happier, more supportive place.
The Yearbook Club at Lapeer High School in Lapeer, Michigan, headed by 12-year veteran art teacher and advisor Amy Linton, debuted a “Wall of Positivity” Tuesday morning in their hallways — hoping to encourage students and staff alike with positive messages.
The #PassOnThePositivity movement asks students and staff to take a note from the wall and either keep it with them throughout the day or stick one somewhere another person might come across it — like a locker or a car door.
The hand-written messages say things like:
Enjoy the little things.
Believe you can & you’re halfway there.
Conquer the day!
If you can dream it, you can do it.
Love yourself.
Flanked by the dozens of colorful Post-Its, the Wall of Positivity also features a quote by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that is especially fitting right now:
“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fibers of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”
Yearbook advisor Linton says that the #PassOnThePositivity message was inspired by school counselors at one of the middle schools who had done something similar at the beginning of the school year.
Each year, the upcoming senior class chooses a theme for the next yearbook. This year, the class chose “Inspire.” The theme, explains Linton, is meant to highlight all the ways that students and staff can perform random acts of kindness, with the hope that bringing attention to them will inspire others to do the same.
The Yearbook Club plans on capturing these acts of kindness through photos and video, to share on both social media and in the upcoming yearbook.
“This is about passing it on,” notes Linton. “Too often we have a negativity in our world, from social media and everyday life and we just want to push the positive and be nice to each other. I say that at the end of my class every day — just be kind to each other.”
She explains that while the Yearbook Club is still in the brainstorming session about more specific ways that they can help the community, the movement has already made a difference — from kids getting together to make Thanksgiving dinner for those in need, to students raking leaves for the elderly, to one club that is cutting patterns from old jeans to be made into shoes.
Superintendent Matt Wandrie told Babble that he — as well as the rest of the administration — couldn’t be happier to see all the good things their students are doing.
“We are proud of our students for their willingness to participate in something so positive. We hope initiatives like this becomes a staple at all our buildings, so that the focus of students at all levels can be on the positive attributes of our school community.”
The #PassOnThePositivity message was well-received this week by students who were surprised to walk in and see the colorful display. By lunch hour, all of the notes were gone. “It was really cool, I got hugs from staff members and students,” she adds. “They thought it was really great and different in their day. It’s been all positive.”
In the end, Linton and her team hope that by doing their part, the movement will only continue to grow and spread beyond their community. “You just have to put it out there as much as you can,” she says. “We are doing our little part to make things a little kinder.”