“I’m so proud of what is happening at St. Croix Central High School! Just as I was hearing about the tragic shooting in Florida, I received pictures from the PITCrew Club and the project that they did yesterday for Valentine’s Day. They wanted everyone to feel loved yesterday and so they put personal notes on every single locker in the high school. They had been working on this for the last month. Even in times of darkness, there are still times of light. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who suffered such tragedy yesterday.”
-What I shared on Facebook, February 15th 2018
It’s been a week since I posted this on social media. I found out a lot more information so wanted to write a blog about the importance of doing good in the world.
Last year, Doug and I had the opportunity to help St. Croix Central’s High School start the PITCrew Club which stands for suicide awareness and anti-bullying. I’m so proud of what this club has accomplished, especially last Wednesday. The club came up with the idea to make Valentines for every student and post them on the lockers on February 14, 2018 so students would feel loved and valued on Valentine’s Day. Keep in mind, every note was a personal message to each and every student from ninth grade to 12th grade. Around 6 PM that evening, one of the students sent me pictures of what was accomplished. I saw lockers filled with personal notes and students taking the time to put them up. I saw love being spread and lights being lit as people would know they were valued and loved. I shared the pictures and what I saw on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. My post on Facebook alone, reached over 25,000 people and was shared 165 times. I am amazed when I look at all of the good that the students accomplished at St. Croix Central last Wednesday when students in another high school were experiencing the complete, extreme opposite. People are looking for hope and we can give it to them by making our mark in the small things.
Every day when we make our mark in the world, we can choose to make it positive. If we could start banning together, start supporting one another, and thinking of other ways to reach out to one another, we could drastically change the world we live in. Please know, the students came up with this idea on their own… They did not have to do this. Just like every day, we don’t have to smile at strangers or even say thank you to the clerk at the grocery store if we don’t want to… But it’s the valiant efforts of niceness that our world needs to see more of. While recognizing what happened in Florida was an awful, horrendous tragedy, we need to also realize how lucky we are that this is not an everyday occurrence in every high school across the United States and there are other good, positive things that are happening in high schools across the country that are not reported on or looked at as significant. It is the small things that we can do to create significance when we all decide to do those small things.
It could have been very different that day at St. Croix Central High School, instead they decided to touch the lives in their school instead of allowing students to feel un-included and unloved. They stepped out and this took time! Not only did they take time to put them on the lockers but it took many hours to write out the cards. When talking to Tracy Klein, one of St. Croix Central’s guidance counselors, she said it was upwards of 15 hours that the students took to complete this project. Absolutely amazing! I’m so proud that they have taken the PITCrew message and have made it their own… To be lights in this world and to make their mark. What can you do this week to be a light at your school? At your work? In your home? Determine to make your mark today in this world.