Spotted on the Boulevard: Lockers Covered with Post-it Notes! Curious Minds Want to Know Why!

Spotted on the Boulevard: lockers covered with Post-it notes. A curious sight, for sure...so what’s the story here? We think it had something to do with our sixth grade’s latest literary studies of the YA novel Posted and the classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

To find out the scoop, we went to Middle School Learning Specialist Ms. Goldstein:

We never think of them as a powerful communication tool but use them all the time. Simple post-it notes that we use routinely are quiet messengers containing words that linger with persistent power. 

In the YA novel “Posted,” author John David Anderson appeals to the current middle school student, and those that can recall their middle school years, with a captivating storyline. Middle school is a time where we not only learn about ourselves but our response to what is right and wrong. Words can be both weapons and gifts. Words can build and maintain relationships and in an instant, destroy them. The novel follows the story of four unlikely friends and the challenges they experience as middle schoolers. This text was selected as a paired text to the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, again, a text that follows young characters as they learn about the world and the power of words.  

In Posted, Anderson illustrates a post-it-note locker campaign as a means for the students to communicate after their cell phones were banned. This “in-speyered” our Speyer students to embark on their own positive campaign of sending thoughtful notes of praise, support, and inspiration.

As a result of their spark to ignite a positive flame, the students are working on spreading our campaign throughout our Speyer community. Some thoughts for school-wide post-its include poems of positivity, simply smiles, “in-speyered” inspiration, and a word a day. We will keep you “posted” on our progress!