The project came to life last year after the class decided that instead of doing Secret Santa in the classroom, they wanted to pay forward the happiness. Grade 7 students were sharing smiles and high-fives with passersby at Park Royal Dec.12.
Kevin Darling, a West Bay teacher and the organizer of the project, said they never know who they will touch.
“I’m hoping that they learn that it just doesn’t always have to be about getting presents and that just saying something nice can be a present all by itself. You never know how much you are going to affect somebody,” Darling said.
Last year, one man teared up and said that his holidays are not fun because he had a death in the family, but the signs of the students made him feel good for a moment.
Ethan Hippel, one of the students participating in the project, said he likes seeing the faces of people change and their spirits lifted.
“Everyone deserves to be happy, no matter if it’s the holidays or not and everyone has so many different kinds of problems that can come up in their lives and it’s just really nice to spread joy so that everyone can feel good around the holidays,” Hippel said.
Nancy Dunn was walking with her husband and said they were talking about how lovely the project was.
“I think it’s good for the kids to do something like this,” Dunn said. “It will make them think about doing stuff for other people, making people happy. You can see, they’re having fun doing it, and it makes us smile too.”
