The leadership class at Huntington Middle School put 50 painted rocks out in Kelso and Longview this week to honor and celebrate veterans. Each rock is painted by a student, and includes designs of American flags, yellow ribbons, camouflage, red poppies, and more.
The students hope that the rocks will create a ripple of appreciation for veterans and are asking people to look for, photograph, and share images of the rocks on social media.
“Impacted by stories they heard from veterans and their experiences coming back after serving, our students wanted the entire community to think more about our veterans and their place in our community,” said Katie Ahola, teacher and leadership advisor at Huntington Middle School. “They thought creating a rock finding mission would be a creative way to include more people in celebrating and appreciating the service of our veterans.”
The rocks have been placed in and around school campuses, grocery stores, coffee shops and any place someone may wander or walk. The challenge to find and share the rocks goes through November.
“When someone finds a rock, we are asking them to take a picture of the rock itself, or of them with the rock and share it on social media with the hashtag #HMSRockChallenge,” said Ahola. “Then, people can choose to keep the rock, re-locate it, or they can gift it to a veteran they know.” The students would also like to be tagged on Facebook at Huntington Middle School or on Instagram @huntington_huskies.
The rocks for this project were generously donated by DeRosier Trucking.
Source: Kelso School District