Those inspirational hallway posters are signs of a bigger change at Baldwin, junior Bailey Golvash said.
The encouraging messages on the posters are meant to “inspire and hopefully encourage” other students, Golvash said. It is just one of the activities carried out by the Friends of Rachel group as it spreads its message of kindness through the Rachel’s Challenge program.
Rachel Joy Scott was the first of 12 people murdered in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Scott’s impact and kindness inspired the creation of the Rachel’s Challenge program.
At Baldwin, the Friends of Rachel group has been embracing her message. The group meets monthly and brainstorms ideas about activities and fundraisers that can inspire and help their peers during school.
Junior Bryce Chapla is one of the many students involved with the program.
“My overall goal is to make the school a happier place. School is somewhere where you should be happy to see your friends and learn. I want to make the students feel safe and happy instead of feeling dread while being here,” Chapla said.
Golvash agrees.
“Positivity can make someone smile and can spread a message of happiness and encouragement. We plan to put up inspirational messages that will help spread this positivity,” Golvash said.
Students from the group have put Post-It notes all around the school with inspirational quotes on them. They also have written encouraging messages on the bathroom mirrors.
Recently they have put magnets with encouraging words on them on random students’ lockers. They also spread their message through a “nice comments” page on Instagram and a Remind account.
Cheryl Foote, one of the sponsors of the program, said she believes that the program has really brought students together.
“We realized that the students need a time to meet. There was no consistent way to touch base with everyone, but with this program we were able to bring a very big and diverse group of people together,” Foote said.
Foote said there also have been anonymous students around the school who have been working to help their classmates. There is even a group of students who call themselves “Rachel’s Rejects,” since they were not chosen to be a part of the program but have still been spreading Rachel’s message, Foote said.
“I think that it is great that students are not trying to be recognized and just want to help out for the kindness and helpfulness,” Foote said.
Foote and many of the students hope to continue spreading kindness and inspire their peers at Baldwin.