CNN reported a story about a group of parents of fifth-grade students at Mary Moore Elementary school in Arlington, Texas, and how they painted bathroom stalls with uplifting messages and inspirational quotes. It’s pretty neat. A good idea for sure – why not work to remind kids they are loved, share inspirational words they can see all day, everyday. Why not.
Well, the parents at Mary Moore Elementary aren’t the first to come up with this idea. A group of teachers at Veronica E. Connor Middle School on Grand Island did this exact thing in September, as they welcomed their students to a new year.
Teacher, Jackie Miller said it was a great project, “We saw an article on Facebook about a school who had done this and loved the idea. We then started a group message of everyone interested in helping out. After getting approval from Mr Fitzpatrick, the principal, we started looking into positive quotes and spent one morning getting the vinyl cut out.” And hanging them all around the school!
Messages of support. Reminders to “stay positive”, “be kind”, and “enjoy life”.
It was a team effort and all of these teachers and staff members deserve credit, so we’ll give it! Deanna Przepiora, Jackie Miller, Kim Heider, Debbie Coram, Tracy Shores, Carley Antonelli, Crystal Barnes, Jodie Rudney, Jillian Stapleton, Mary Howard, Vicki Strano, Laurie Cordero and Sandy Lamb
The message here, says Jackie, is that words matter,
“In the end it shows all students that they are in a place that is safe with people that genuinely care about them. Each child is more than a number or a letter grade and each individual is special in some unique way that is honored, recognized and celebrated by the adults in the building.”
The kind words and phrases are all over school.
Even in the bathrooms, particularly for the girls,
“This was one small gesture we felt would help the female middle schoolers who face the everyday challenges of self esteem, body issues, etc. When they feel better about themselves and embrace their unique differences they can focus more on their education and bright futures. Since the start of school I’ve seen girls reading the quotes and enjoying the positivity!”
It’s a great way to start and end a day, don’t you think?! For boys. For girls. Even for the teachers and staff.
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