Hillsborough High Seniors Turn Kindness Project Into Social Media Hit

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Two Hillsborough High School seniors turned a simple idea about kindness into a schoolwide social media movement that reached millions of viewers this year.

Since launching the Instagram account @boro_compliments in September, 18-year-olds Zac Staskiewicz and Lily Duea-Ebner have given students, teachers, coaches and staff a place to anonymously recognize people who make a difference in their daily lives.

The two best friends met in the choir program as freshmen and wanted to do something positive for the Hillsborough community.

The account amassed more than 7 million total views throughout the school year.

Thousands of students engaged with posts centered on compassion, encouragement, and community.

The creators' identities remained secret until the last week of the school year, but the account's focus stayed the same: reminding people that their words can uplift others.

"We don’t deserve all the credit though. The community came together and were the ones who sent in these messages uplifting each other; we simply created an outlet for it," Lily said.

Through anonymous submissions, @boro_compliments became a space dedicated to kindness, inclusion, gratitude and encouragement across the Hillsborough community.

The account highlighted thousands of people who made a meaningful difference in the lives of others, often without expecting recognition in return.

The project also appears to have spread beyond Hillsborough. Other compliments accounts have been created in other districts inspired by the Hillsborough students' effort.

A message sent in about the account from a Hillsborough faculty member said, "I have worked in this district for over 30 years and this social media page is probably the most positive, heart warming thing I’ve witnessed in all those years. Kudos to you for sharing positive messages, and kudos to everyone who shared a compliment for a classmate."

As graduation approaches, both students are preparing for what comes next.

Zac Staskiewicz will attend Raritan Valley Community College this fall and plans to pursue the Occupational Therapy Assistant program.

Lily Duea-Ebner will attend the University of Delaware and plans to study Music Education.

"You never know what someone is going through. A few kind words can completely change someone’s day. If this encourages even one person to be kinder or inspires more schools to start something similar," Zac said, "Then we’ve accomplished what we set out to do. I wanted to make a change and I am so proud of what this account has become!"