School social worker writes personalized notes of encouragement to all 600 of his students
When he was a kid, Kevin Boyer's parents left him special notes in his lunch box, and he's keeping that tradition alive with his own students.
Boyer is the family and student support coordinator at Gorsuch West Elementary in Lancaster, Ohio. Last year, he wrote a personalized letter to every student in the school, and he's doing it again this year. Every day, he pens six notes, so that by the last day of school, he will have written a letter to all 600 students. Boyer makes it a point to learn the name of every kid in the school and finds out their interests and hobbies so when it's time to write their letters, they are one-of-a-kind.
Last year, students would rush up to him in the halls with their letters, and give him hugs and high-fives, Boyer told The Lancaster Eagle Gazette. "Not only was it a pick-me-up for the students, it was also a pick-me-up for me and kind of kept me going throughout the school year as well," he said. Some students told him they've taped the notes to their desks, while others said they brought them home and proudly display them on their refrigerators.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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