Colorful, encouraging messages are greeting Windsor students as they enter school Wednesday and Thursday. All five district schools are taking part in Chalk the Walk.
The initiative from BC SAFE (Broome County Suicide Awareness For Everyone) inspires people to decorate their sidewalks with beautiful images and messages of Hope and Resilience.
“It’s important to have parents be aware that there are resources and hope for mental health. As a school, we can do a lot to build resiliency for our students and our community, and that’s our focus,” said Katelyn Lapan, Community Schools Coordinator for the Windsor Central School District.
Students began writing messages on the sidewalk on Tuesday night. However, rain erased many of those messages by the morning. Thankfully, more staff and students added their own positive messages Wednesday morning.
“It was pretty awesome to see it reconstructed,” said middle school student Cassandra Groome. “I want them to know they are capable of great things. Even if they are bullied, they are able to come back and be the best person they can be.”
Staff at Windsor Central High School are encouraging students to create artistic messages of hope for display in the school. At Windsor Central Middle School, students had several reasons to take part.
“I want to help other people to know they are not alone,” said 7th grader Jess Rought.
“I just wanted to help people and encourage others not to say mean stuff to other people,” said 7th grader Sophia Snowball.
Elementary staff focused their messages on building community while spreading hope and positivity. They wanted to help students make the connection that being positive helps others feel good about themselves and helps you feel better as well.
7th grader Lauren Brey’s also wanted her message to show the connection we have with each other.
“I hope they see it’s important to pay attention to the people around you and pay attention to your actions,” said 7th grader Lauren Brey.