Adorned around the halls of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School are messages of hope, strength and unity.
The messages are a part of the OLOL student senate led Take What You Need Board.
“The Take What You Need campaign is an attempt by Student Senate to reach out to the school community and let them know they aren't alone. It is evident that, 2 years into the COVID-19 pandemic, students and staff alike are starting to become more and more burnt out. By placing our Take What you Need posters around the school, we hope it gives hope and strength, or whatever is needed in the situation, to whoever may need it,” shared grade 12 student and OLOL student senate secretary, Liam Flaherty. “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve learned to take comfort and appreciate the small things in life, which is what we hope the student population will do with this campaign.”
The Take What You Need Board originated following the student senate’s, No Place for Hate campaign which ran for the month of February to recognize Black Heritage Month.
“Our school community has a diverse range of ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations and identities, so as the school council we wanted to take an initiative to educate our school community and how we appropriately appreciate our differences. In order to achieve this project we set multiple activities for the students. The No Place for Hate campaign was a combination campaign for POC as well as the LGBTQ2IA+ communities. We wanted to focus on Black Heritage Month since it is February, we set up our Senate bulletin with inspirational people who have impacted our world. We included Kathrine Johnson and Serena Williams,” explained Iana Razo, grade 12 student and student senate council president. “The Take What You Need Board was to help our student body get through a rough day. Our Senate assembly created this board for Random Act of Kindness Day. Students were able to take what they needed for the day; a compliment, advice, etc. Both Senate councils were able to come together giving students advice compliments with their hot chocolate.”
For the senators, the Take What You Need Board became an important addition to the school, recognizing that people are struggling and that there are people who care. The hopeful messages around the school shared that students are not alone.
“Many of the pages are empty, this means that a lot of students have taken a kind message from us,” explained Julie Vo, grade 12 student and bulletin board coordinator of the student senate. “The bulletin board is such an important aspect in the school. Students are able to read what is on it and could potentially learn a lot from it. Our use of interactive boards ensures that students recognize the importance of it.”
To stay up to date with OLOL Student Senate activities, please follow them on Instagram at @ololsenate.