It’s time to say goodbye to seniors and usher in a new school year for rising juniors and sophomores and new freshmen, according to Project Happiness members. DMAE’s Project Happiness Club wanted to create a special goodbye for the seniors for weathering such a tough school year and give other students kudos as well. They reached out to the student body and collected a quantity of responses to put together “Message to a High Schooler and Goodbyes to the Class of 2021,” as a final project of the club.

“The project was created in response to the overwhelming support of our first video, the “Thank an Educator” letters. After I realized how happy the messages made my teachers, I thought maybe this is something my classmates need as well,” junior Victoria Lebron explained.

Students who wrote messages used a link to send open-ended responses to the club. They gave advice to younger grades, shared fond high school experiences, or congratulated the graduating class of 2021! These kind messages were compiled into a video and posted on the club’s Instagram (@pro.happ). A link was also shared with teachers and posted for students.

Another goal of the project was for students to reflect on the positive memories of the year. 

“These messages are important because they let students know that they are not alone, that others have been there before. This ‘heads up’ will get them mentally ready for the upcoming year,” said Melissa Conceicao who is the club adviser. “I hope students will take the advice to heart and use it to their advantage because sometimes it is more impactful to hear from your own peers than from adults,” she added.

To view the video, you can click the following link: https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/9b7e08c5-1fa2-4b21-9c1e-c261db4d56df