May 2, 2013 Volume 12 • Number 18 50¢ Newsstand Price
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Youth get that dopamine shuffling Calling themselves the Operation Dopamine Do-Gooders, two grade 11 students from South Kamloops Secondary have begun a campaign of compliments that they hope will catch on. “We were tired of hearing kids talk about negative energy and lack of school spirit, but never doing anything about it,” explain the girls, who wish to remain anonymous. “We wanted to commit acts of kindness. We got together and brainstormed, and began in November by staying after school to write compliments on all the teacher’s doors in one of the hallways and leave similar post-it-notes in the girls bathroom.” Since then, they’ve done something similar every week. For nine weeks they’ve hung posters bearing a variety of quirky compliments – ranging from ‘Your eyes are beautifully radiant’ to ‘You could make the bagpipes sound good!’ - that can be torn off and shared. The idea is catching on and the team is getting a name for themselves on campus. “We had to collaborate with the school janitors and some teachers, so they wouldn’t think we were vandalizing school property, but otherwise we’ve tried to stay anonymous. We’re not super-secretive – we attended a staff meeting to let them know what we’re doing - but we don’t want to exploit the fact that we’re doing it,” say the girls. “The most noticeable elements of the project have been the tear-away notes and chalk messages on teachers’ doors,” says South Kamloops Secondary teacher Trish Rimmer of Operation Dopamine. “The notes have several compliments or cheery thoughts attached. It never takes long for all of them to be removed and circulated by the students. The notes on classroom doors have been personalized to the individual teachers. It’s a treat to see the positive messages spread throughout the school and read the notes left for colleagues.”
“When I began to notice the Operation Dopamine efforts and the intention of the students’ project, it was uplifting. I know that my colleagues and I do what we can to promote a caring and kind school community. When students conceive of and carry out a project like this on their own, it carries a special kind of weight,” says Trish Rimmer, a teacher at the school. “One of the most impressive aspects of the girls’ project is that they are doing this anonymously, making what they are doing even more of a gift to those around them as they are forgoing the opportunity to be praised and congratulated. It’s a lovely example of altruism.” – continued on page 2
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