The idea of spreading good feelings through candy or kind words has spread from a Port Coquitlam high school to one in Coquitlam, and the students behind the idea would like to see it go further.
Riverside secondary students Kendra May, Grade 11, and Johanna Kuffner, Grade 10, started the Happy Tuesday Club and they and a dozen supporters are handing out candy, cupcakes and positive messages at their Port Coquitlam school each Tuesday to spread goodwill.
Last week, their initiative spread to Dr. Charles Best secondary in Coquitlam, where the entire school was blanketed with sticky notes bearing kind words and thoughts, bringing smiles to students' faces.
A Fox student was the originator but the campaign faltered when he graduated, May said, so she decided to reinstate it when she moved from Fox to Riverside to take the culinary arts program. She joined forces with Kuffner and the initiative grew from there.
"To have something like this once a week, people really look forward to it," she said.
Using their own money, the students bought candy, made cupcakes and hot chocolate, and began handing out the treats. Two weeks ago, they posted messages on 1,600 lockers and the initiative was tweeted and spread using social media, prompting Best student Selin Jessa to do the same thing at her school last Friday with the help of other students.
Angel Kennedy, a Grade 11 Best student, arrived at school and found on her locker a note that read "Go change the world" and then noticed every other locker in her hallway bore notes with individual messages bearing kind words.
"It just makes you smile," Kennedy said.
She thinks the initiative was a good idea and probably made a lot of people feel better.
"I think if someone is having a bad day, one of the notes could cheer them up," she said.
The notes, in yellow and blue, bore handwritten phrases such as "Hang in there" and "Have a good day."
Huffner and May are thrilled their idea took root and want to see other schools adopt Happy Tuesday. They would also appreciate donations to help them with future Happy Tuesday initiatives. To contact the Riverside club, email [email protected]; on Twitter, they can be found at @HappyTuesdayRS.
