Milford Classroom Project Earns International Attention
By Keith Knepp
InkFreeNews
MILFORD — What started out as a class project in Cheryl Van Laeken’s fifth-grade classroom at Milford Elementary has gone viral, garnering media attention as far away as France. Neither she, nor her students, expected their efforts to gain worldwide attention, but less than a month after the idea took flight, it has accomplished just that.
“It started when I heard of a similar idea in California on the radio as I was driving to work,” Van Laeken said. “I asked the kids when I got to school if it was something they would be interested in doing, and they all agreed!”
The idea was to create a phone line into which people could call to receive a positive message.
“We wanted to do something nice for people,” Van Laeken said. “We seem to be living in a very unhappy world these days and we wanted to help change people’s moods.”
Van Laeken contacted her father, Mark Grady, who happens to be the general manager of New Paris Telephone. She asked how difficult it would be to set up a dedicated phone line, which he said would not be a problem.
When you call the phone number, you are given five options: Jokes, pep talk/advice, kind words and phrases, inspirational quotes, and “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader,” which offers facts and questions for the caller to ponder. A sixth option allows the caller to hear the exact same messages in Spanish.
Local media, including two television stations and a local radio station, quickly picked up on the story. Two separate news crews were dispatched to Milford last Thursday to interview Van Laeken and her students. It found a larger audience when National Public Radio picked up on the story. As of Tuesday morning, VanLaeken has found media mentions, either on television or radio, in around 35 states. She also was made aware of the story being picked up in France, with the story being told in French.
For their part, the students think the attention is pretty awesome. Even more importantly, they hope they are making a positive impact on the lives of people they’ll probably never meet.
“If someone is having a bad day and they call, they might get cheered up,” said student Abby Lehman. “It means a lot to make people really happy.”
“I just want to make a lot of people happier,” classmate Rhett Bucher added. “I think it’s cool because everyone should have happiness in their lives.”
Van Laeken said the original messages were still up on Tuesday, but that the students have recorded and plan to change them on Wednesday. She plans to continue to change them through the end of the school year and is developing a plan to continue through the summer months.
The current students agreed that the project should be taken over by Van Laeken’s new class next fall. She said she was worried that they might not agree to hand over the phone line, but none of them were upset at that prospect. Instead, they all were glad that the new class would take it over.
If you want to check out the phone line for a quick “pick me up,” call (574) 832-4965. The kids promise that “your frown will turn upside down.”