Prairie High School students use Inspire Week to uplift staff

BRUSH PRAIRIE — Started in 2019, the popular Inspire Week at Prairie High School is now part of the curriculum — a new class called applied psychology led by social studies teacher Dawn Rowe. When it first started, Inspire Week focused on students uplifting other students; this year, the focus was shifted to saying thank you to the school’s staff due to the pandemic and related challenges. Students greeted staff at the door while others posted encouraging sticky notes on bathroom mirrors and hearts on doors. They also wrote large messages of positivity outside using sidewalk chalk. They also left uplifting notes for custodial staff, who worked hard to clean and sanitize the school throughout the year. “It’s part of the curriculum now, so I don’t have to try and figure out how to make Inspire Week work,” Rowe said in a news release. “Now, the kids can all do it. They come up with all the ideas and then they do it, and I just coach them along the way.”