Rivet Students Send Messages Of Hope
Rivet High School teacher Meghan Quinn and her 11th-grade language arts students were looking for a way to honor National Suicide Prevention Awareness Week, which was held Sept. 5-11. Quinn and her 24 students spent a class period writing positive messages on more than 400 post-it notes - and put them through the entire school.
“The junior class are an especially tenderhearted and thoughtful group of kids,” Quinn said. “They wanted to do something for their school. I was moved to tears watching them write on all of the Post-It notes and taking pride and enjoyment in secretly racing around the halls to place their notes without being noticed.”
Post-its were placed on lockers, windows and doors to surprise students and staff. Messages included statements like “You are enough,” “You mean the world to someone,” and “You are so loved.” Students also included the hashtag #suicidepreventionawareness2016.
The group worked quietly and finished just in time to watch the students’ and teachers’ faces as the bell rang for lunch. When people entered the hallways, some students teared up and others beamed, smiling from ear to ear.
“It changed the entire atmosphere of the school for the day.” Quinn noted. “I thought kids would take them down, but all of the kids left them up. They wanted to see them for the rest of the week. Teaching these kids never ceases to amaze me. I learn more from these kids' beautiful hearts than I ever imagined I could when I became a teacher.”
National Suicide Prevention Awareness Week is an annual campaign in the United States to inform and engage health professionals and the general public about suicide prevention and warning signs of suicide. By drawing attention to the problem of suicide in the United States, the campaign also strives to encourage the pursuit of mental-health assistance and the support of people who have attempted suicide.
