Piper Lilley had no idea her afternoon television session would soon inspire her whole school to be more cheerful.
One day in December, the 12-year-old Bethlehem Middle School student was watching the Disney Channel when a segment on volunteering showed a group of kids putting together a unique project. The kids had placed encouraging notes throughout their school in an effort to encourage a more positive environment. The segment motivated Lilley to try it in her own school.
“I thought maybe I could get a group of close friends together to do the same thing,” said Lilley. “Some were busy or didn’t want to, but others said yes.” That group included seven friends: Michelle Moczulski, Kat Jones, Kelsey Giciewicz, Rebekah Ossias, Ava Navarro, Ryan McInerney and Austin Mbaye.
Lilley and her mother met with Kimberly Smith, one of the school’s guidance councilors, about the project to see what she thought of the idea. After getting some positive feedback, they received permission from the school’s administration to move forward.
In January, the Lilley family helped Piper and her friends purchase hundreds of multi-colored Post-It notes. A week later, Piper Lilley and her friends spent several hours in the school’s Guidance Office writing encouraging messages on more than 2,000 notes. The notes said things like “keep your head up,” “smile,” and “be yourself.”
After all the students went home for the day, the group put a Post-It on every student’s locker, along with doors of all teachers and staff members. All of the students came in to school on Jan. 9, to a building filled with color and cheer.
“Some people were kind of confused at first and didn’t know what was happening, but most people once they realized they were really happy to see what was going on,” said Lilley.
The Post-It notes were kept up throughout the school until the following Monday. Most of them were later moved to form a collage outside of the school’s cafeteria.
Those who participated in the project said they found the reaction of students and staff to be encouraging. “My one teacher before this just told me that ‘even though she’s an old lady,’ it still made her day,” said Ossais, 12.
Navarro had a similar story.
“I remember is was really snowy that morning and there might be a delay, but there wasn’t,” said Navarro. “My teacher said it took her like an hour to get to school, where it usually takes 20 minutes, so she was already having a bad start to her day. And then when she came in and saw a couple near the main office she thought it was cute, but then she went upstairs to see one on every locker and her door, and she said it made her fell better.”
Some of the students kept the Post Its, and still have them hanging in there lockers. The group was happy their fellow students reacted positively to the idea, because they were scared many would think it was “lame.”
The notes help to reinforce the school’s anti-bullying messages and lessons on character building. The administration was also happy to see the kids took the project on themselves.
“I think it’s amazing for kids to find something like that important enough to take action on such a large scale because it is a big building,” said Administrative Dean Dave Zadoorian. “It was really kind of them, and show’s the kind of strength and character our kids have. Piper had the idea, she saw it, and made it happen.”
Smith said the kids were able to put the project together really fast, and she was happy with how everything turned out.
“Middle school is a time when kids can be very self-critical,” said Smith. “The kids wanted their peers to feel positive and to pass that feeling on to other people rather than criticize them.”
Lilley hoped other students learn from project, and it possibly would inspire other students her age to do something similar. “It was really fun,” she said.
