EPHS students write “Messages that Matter” in support of Annunciation Catholic School

After the late-August tragedy at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, EPHS students wondered what action they could take even while feeling as if there was nothing they could do. Soon after, student group leaders and advisers gathered together to brainstorm. The result was Messages that Matter, a letter-writing project that would involve the entire school. Last week, student leaders from across EPHS delivered blank cards to classrooms, where all students had the opportunity to write messages of support and encouragement to students, staff and community members at Annunciation. Thousands of cards were written, and students are now working to determine how they can best be shared with the Annunciation community, considering the school’s evolving needs.

Here’s what a few students had to say about the project:

“As a high school student, I know first hand that a lot of big feelings follow a tragedy like this. It can feel like as a teenager, there isn’t anything you can do. A project like this both helps the community impacted and brings together our own community…. It’s very moving to see our whole school community come together for this cause… not fueled by incentives but purely by compassion.” - Paili Rice, Key Club President

“It means being able to reach out and tell people that we’re here for them. I hope that the letters will provide some sort of comfort to the people affected by this, just letting them know that EPHS supports them and that we’re with them in these hard times.” - Zeina Barry, National Honor Society Officer

“...These letters mean a lot to me because I can be that safe space for someone else. …I feel like everybody needs to know that they have somebody by their side and that’s willing to support them, not just for traumatic events but also for positive things. …Everybody needs to know there’s somebody on your side.” - Maleah Holloway, Black Student Union President

“As a leader, I have to show ways that we can support the people who are around us…. Involving the whole student community, it means that we support everyone, even if they are not a part of our school. It shows that our school isn't only teaching academics, but also teaching how to be kind and sympathetic to the people around us.” - Salman Mohamed, DECA Officer

“It’s such a small step towards something that is so much bigger than everyone.... We have so much empathy for them, and bringing so many people together, we want them to feel like there is a community that backs them up, there is a community that cares about them outside of just Minneapolis, and that everyone is affected by this….” Mariel Cortes, Key Club Vice President

“The first question that most students asked when they came back from their classrooms with the bundles of cards was, “Is there anything else I can do to help?” That commitment and support created the space for me to have meaningful conversations with other students and staff members, as I’m sure it did for others. Reading through the cards alongside other students, staff members and teachers, I realized that I think so many people feel alone in this emotional time, but at the end of the day, we are all scared, we are all angry, we are all so incredibly sad, and connecting on that can make us feel us a little bit less alone.” - Abbie Vander Lugt, National Honor Society Officer

Students plan to continue the Messages that Matter project generally in an ongoing effort for the EPHS community to come together and continue sharing hope across the school.