WEST SPRINGFIELD – When eighth-grader Isabelle Williams was feeling down earlier this month, she decided to post an inspirational sticky-note to her school’s bathroom mirror. A few days later, local officials praised her for that act of kindness.

On Mar. 19, Williams wrote, in black ink, “Be kind,” on a colored post-it note. She pasted it, along with 50 other notes, onto the girl’s bathroom mirror at West Springfield Middle School - hoping it would brighten at least one person’s day. What she didn’t know, is that she had just participated in a growing national movement called, “Operation Beautiful.”

The movement aims to leave positive, anonymous notes in public places for other people to find. It was founded by Caitlin Boyle, an author from North Carolina. Since its inception seven years ago, more than 20,000 notes have been written in the name of “Operation Beautiful.”

William’s note had such a positive impact on the student-body, that she and her peers posted more notes around the school the following day.

“At first, I didn’t realize that it was an actual movement going around  – I just did it as a random act of kindness,” said Williams. “I just wanted to post a note on the school bathroom so that if a girl goes to the mirror to check her hair, or look at herself, she can see the message, ‘you’re beautiful,’ or ‘make sure to love yourself.’ It’s there to boost her self-esteem and giver her some confidence to make her day.”

Now, the school has asked her to decorate displays for the blue boards all across the school.

The eighth-grader hopes to fill the building with hundreds of uplifting messages.

“Being at this age in middle school is hard for a lot of people – everyone jokes about hating themselves and everything is a competition to see whose life is worse,” said Williams. “I hope these notes make them feel better about themselves and that it reminds them to not only be kind to yourself, but to be positive around those around you.”

According to “I need a LightHouse,” a depression and suicide education awareness program, teen depression is a common problem.

• Approximately 20 percent of teens will experience depression before they reach adulthood.

• Between 10 to 15 percent of teenagers have some symptoms of depression at any one time.

• Depression increases a teen’s risk for attempting suicide by 12 times.

• 30 percent of teens with depression also develop a substance abuse problem.

• Depressed teens usually have a smaller social circle and take advantage of fewer career and educational opportunities.

• Depressed teens are more likely to have trouble at school and in jobs, and to struggle with relationships.

Depression is the body’s defense mechanism against the ill-effects of chronic negative thinking. The disease turns down all emotional responses – including the fight-or-flight stress response that comes from chronic negative thinking.

On March 22, Williams received a special visit from West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt and Superintendent of West Springfield Public Schools Michael Richard. The elected officials offered her a formal town citation commending the work she had done for the school and her classmates.

The mayor tweeted out the following statement:

“One of the mottos we have when doing programming for students is, ‘if we can impact at least one student, then we can make a difference.’ This time Isabelle has impacted us as leaders. I can’t wait to go back to the middle school next week to see her display.”

They also gave her a personal letter and supplies to include in the future displays for the school.

West Springfield Middle School Principal Peter Gillen said he’s proud of Williams and the character she has shown during this movement.

“This sort of activity and behavior represents what is best about kids and our community,” he said. “It’s a natural thing to support and it’s been easy for me to let the students go and be more kind to each other. It’s been really impressive and I’m really proud.”

Williams, who is also in the process of rehearsing for the play “Singing in the Rain” with the Westfield Theater Group, hopes to work on the new displays soon.

For more information on teen depression, along with other resources, tips and hotlines, click this link here.