Students bring positive messages to community
The Sleepy Hollow Woods and Columbia Pines neighborhoods in Annandale are filled with messages of kindness and caring, thanks to a project by three Justice High School students.
Incoming seniors Sofie Edwards, Evie Garces-Foley, and Renee Grutzik painted upbeat messages – such as “be kind,” “you are amazing,” and “we can do it” – on donated wooden pallets. They asked homeowners for permission to prop them up against street signs or trees on front yards.
The students are all working toward International Baccalaureate (IB) diplomas, which require an experience outside of the classroom that focuses on creativity, activity, or service.
“We chose to use creativity to spread positivity through the neighborhood,” Sofie says.
They initially put up eight signs. One was defaced, so they’re fixing it and giving it another home, Sofie says. The students are also making three new signs, for a total of 10.
They were asked to remove two signs placed in a median strip because they were in the way of people mowing the grass.
Someone placed a note on one of the signs – which said “Black lives matter” and “science is real,” stating the sign was “a little too political,” Sofie says.
After the sign was defaced, Sofie put out a statement on Nextdoor explaining the project. “Our intent in making these signs has only ever been to heighten morale and bring people together during a trying time,” she wrote. “While we understand that not everyone in the neighborhood will appreciate these signs in the way we intended, we hope that this can be resolved more peacefully and respectfully in the future.”
That led to an outpouring of support from the community. The vast majority of the 88 comments on Nextdoor are positive, and many neighbors asked if they could host a sign in their yard or said they are inspired to make their own pallet sign.
“When we started, we didn’t expect to get such a crazy amount of feedback,” Sofie says.
Related story: Neighborhood Spotlight: Sleepy Hollow Woods has hidden charms