Great Bend Middle School’s Student Council finished the fall semester on a happy note, StuCo sponsor Tami Schepmann said.

Students visited River Bend Assisted Living on Thursday. They made pop-up holiday cards and planned to play games or simply visit with the residents.

The hand-written notes were an extension of the “Happy Notes” program. Student Council members visit the Advisory classes when they meet each Tuesday and encourage students to write Happy Notes to each other.

“It is a way to encourage positive, kind, uplifting words,” Schepmann said. “StuCo hands out cut pieces of colored paper and then collects the notes.

“The notes are read to make sure they are appropriate, then Student Council delivers the notes to students every Friday.” There is also a station set up in the library for writing notes. This nine weeks, students received more than 1,100 kind words from their peers and were able to start their Fridays with a smile.

The Happy Notes program is in its second year of implementation. Toward the end of the semester, StuCo highlighted excerpts from Happy Notes for a display on the school’s front bulletin board.

“Many teachers and parents are surprised to read such thoughtful comments,” Schepmann said.

A video with examples of posts on the bulletin board can be seen on the school’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/panthersgbms in the videos section.