Post-It Note Kindness Catching On in Columbia

COLUMBIA, MD — Middle school students in Columbia were greeted with positivity this week, finding messages like "You are perfect just as you are" and "I believe in you!" posted on their lockers.

Oakland Mills Middle School staff wrote and posted the sticky notes on Monday night so that kids would see them first thing on Tuesday morning.

"...we wanted, even if just for a few moments, to surround our students with positive messages and reminders about how important they were, and how valuable they were to our school," Oakland Mills Middle School Principal Megan Chrobak told Patch. "It was important for us to remind all of our students that they matter, that they have great ideas, and they are what makes our school great!"

The project was inspired by neighboring Oakland Mills High School, where the National Arts Honors Society spearheaded the Sticking Together Project in 2013, writing positive messages on Post-Its and sticking them around campus to promote kindness.

This week, while some other schools in Howard County were experiencing mixed emotions due to racist social media posts, students at Oakland Mills were united by several hundred positive messages peppering their lockers.

More than 400 students attend Oakland Mills Middle School, where Chrobak said all students received two to three sticky notes on their lockers to remind them they were valued.

The school is diverse, with its student body 36.8 percent black, 29.5 percent white, 20.9 percent Hispanic, 5.1 percent Asian and 7.7 percent two or more races, according to the Howard County Public School System.

Once the staff at Oakland Mills Middle School shared the Post-It love, the messages stuck and the movement spread.

"We had several students who were then inspired and worked during lunches to come up with additional positive messages to decorate the windows of our media center," Chrobak said. "We encouraged students to take home the notes on their lockers and/or any other messages on the walls that resonated with them."

See Also:

• Columbia is Best Place to Live, Noted for Celebrating Diversity: Money Magazine
• As Police Investigate Racist Pictures from Howard County Students, Local Leaders Call for Inclusivity

Photos courtesy of the Howard County Public School System.