It all started with a door decorating contest last fall, according to Suzanne Rockovits, seventh-grade reading teacher at Northampton Area Middle School (NAMS). As part of the No Place for Hate initiative, students were asked to decorate their homeroom doors to reflect what it means to be a bully-free, diverse and inclusive school.

The student response was amazing, according to Rockovits.

On June 5, to culminate an amazing yearlong lesson in gratitude, one unique class of seventh-graders received an unexpected visitor from Just Born Quality Confections - the PEEPS® chick mascot!

This class chose the theme “The PEEPS … On the Outside, We Are All Different, But On the Inside, We Are All the Same. We All Want To Be Loved, Accepted and Respected. Our World, Our School, Our Class Is No Place for Hate.”

Throughout the fall, the students began to embrace what it means to be a PEEP - and it all started with a lesson in gratitude. Rockovits said NAMS is very fortunate to have a very special social studies teacher, Mr. Seng. A veteran, Seng often appears on the middle school’s closed-circuit news broadcast, Plant 4 News, to explain to students why certain days in history are observed.

The students in this class were mesmerized by his message Sept. 11, and after his message about Columbus Day, they asked if they could write Seng a letter to thank him.

Seng was so moved by the students’ letters that he responded with a personalized video message for the PEEPS about how much their letters meant to him and how showing gratitude can change peoples’ lives. The PEEPS were beyond excited to receive his video message, and with their new understanding of the importance of showing gratitude, these students began writing “secret” letters to staff and students each Friday.

“When I would write my letter to my special someone, I felt very proud because I made someone feel appreciated for what they do in our school,” seventh-grader Kaitlyn Renson said.

“Writing the letters gives me such a happy feeling that is too hard to explain,” student Molly Zweifel said. “I once got a letter written back to me, and another time, I saw someone in person, and she gave me a hug to thank me. Reading that letter and seeing how happy I made someone felt really good.”

Over time, the gratitude letters began reaching farther than the middle school. Students began writing to friends and family members, even an orthodontist - and one student wrote to Northampton Borough employees to thank them for helping her mom with her car.

The students had a new awareness, and they were excited to find goodness in others.

“We were too busy thinking about the positive; we didn’t have time to think about the negative,” Joshua Klusaritz, one of the PEEPS, said.

As the year unfolded, not only did these students learn a life lesson in the power of gratitude, they also learned the importance of being kind, working hard, respecting each other’s differences and having the courage to try new things.

“Being a PEEP has been an amazing experience and taught me more than reading. Being a PEEP made me learn some life lessons that I will need,” Lexie DeLong said.

“As their teacher, I feel extremely fortunate to have been a part of this amazing group’s seventh-grade year,” Rockovits said. “Sometimes it’s the lessons we don’t plan that can leave the biggest impact. I never expected what transpired among these students. It was truly inspiring!”