In a heartwarming display of support, the Lyons 5th-grade teachers recently organized a surprise
to boost their students' spirits before state testing. To help build confidence and alleviate nerves, the teachers decorated the hallways with colorful displays and coordinated secretly with students’ families and LCSD staff to send letters of encouragement to each student. These letters also included special messages from LCSD’s Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Rhonda Underhill, and Superintendent Dr. Matthew Barr.
The goal was simple yet powerful: to remind students how deeply they are loved and supported by their families, friends, and teachers, and to set them up for a successful testing experience with positivity and encouragement.
When students arrived at school, they were stunned. Bright decorations and heartfelt notes lined the halls, each one created just for them. Their faces lit up with excitement and emotion as they read through their letters and the encouraging words left for their classmates. The hallway buzzed with laughter and smiles, and students asked, "Can I go out and read my notes again?" before the test began.
One 5th grader, Julia Calabrese, shared, "My mom’s words of encouragement helped me get through the test. I felt that if my mom believes in me, then I believe in me too!"
Julia’s mom, Dominique Calabrese, followed up by saying, “I absolutely loved that her teachers coordinated this. Julia came home with the biggest smile on her face, saying how loved and encouraged it made her feel. I’m just so proud of her hard work preparing for this test, and I’m glad I was able to share that with her.”
The project turned out to be even more meaningful than the teachers imagined. They hoped to provide a little stress relief and motivation, but what they witnessed were ear-to-ear smiles, teary eyes as students found their personal notes, heartfelt compliments flying between classmates, and a lot of proud hugs.
Fifth-grade teacher Mrs. Briana Clark summed it up perfectly:
"Mrs. Christina Fries came to our team with this awesome idea! We have prepared all year for the state test, and we’ve seen so much progress made in the students when it comes to tackling higher-level questioning, not only with multiple-choice questions but also with constructed responses. These students pushed themselves all year to prepare for the big day, and we wanted to celebrate that! Some of my favorite moments from this experience were receiving messages from parents thanking us for letting them be part of celebrating their child’s hard work and wishing them good luck. Starting test day like this brought a whole new excitement to what is usually a very stressful couple of days!”
The effort served as a beautiful reminder: sometimes it’s the simplest acts of love and encouragement that have the biggest impact—especially for students who have worked so hard to build the skills that will carry them far into their futures.
The smiles said it all.
