COLORADO SPRINGS — Local students are spreading messages of kindness all month long. It's part of a positivity project at Harrison High School that kicked off in the beginning of April.
Students who are part of the student council leadership group designated the month of April to "Panther Pawsitivity." Every week there's a theme surrounding mental health and well-being, and the students spread messages and give hundreds of treats to their classmates.
The themes are positivity, kindness, gratitude and self care. During the first week, students were handed a goody bag, and greeted with a warm welcome as they walked into school.
"The only thing I can remember from that day was seeing everybody come in with a big smile. Everybody was super happy to receive something," said Alison Favela, a senior at the high school.
"I think it made a really big impact especially with the situations we're facing now."
"We were outside in the front of the school, music was playing, as students were walking into school," said Jose Mendoza, a junior. "What our goal was was to bring smiles to people's faces, and lift up their spirits in the little ways we can. It was nice to see."
During the week of gratitude, the students handed out bags of chips with the pun "you're all that and a bag of chips."
During the week of self care, the students are handing out packs of gum that say, "take Extra care of yourself."
The planning for positivity month began in February after what's been a challenging year for many students, but now the students are empowering others with their kind words and good deeds.
"This past year has been a little bit down for everybody. We wanted to bring that energy back up, boost that morale, and bring some more spirit to our school," said Rivera. "This month has been amazing. It brought smiles to other people's faces and that makes me happy, seeing that I'm impacting their day."
"It's the most fulfilling this. It just brings me the biggest smile knowing I can make somebody's day better, I can make somebody smile, knowing that the little things go a long way," said Favela.
The students also mentioned they're planning a teacher appreciation week for May, which they're still brainstorming ideas for.
