This year, sophomore Patricia Hughes started the Positivity Club to try to make people happier around the school.

“I noticed that a lot of my friends were dreading coming to school and would rather have been at the dentist getting teeth pulled than be at school, and I wanted to do something about it,” Hughes said. “No one likes seeing their friends sad, and I knew without a doubt there were other people like my friends who don’t want to be at school, but also other people like me who want to make a difference.”

The club was just formed this year but has already started to get involved with school activities.

“The Positivity Club had a booth during the carnival, and I enjoyed working in it,” freshman member Addie Grafton said.

Earlier this year, Positivity Club posted sticky notes in several places throughout the school with positive messages on them. Hughes has plans for the club to grow and be able to get even more done within the school.

“Most of our ideas tend to be centered around making the school more colorful,” Hughes said. “I’ve heard people say it looks like a prison or an asylum in here, and it can feel like either or both of those things sometimes too, so we want to change that.  We might want to partner with the art club at some point to add a little bit of color around the school in the form of paintings or pictures. A lot of what we will do may include just leaving little things around the school to brighten people’s day, teaching people how to manage stress better, and tips on how to be more productive, so they’ll be less stressed and therefore more happy.”

Hughes hopes to grow the club over the rest of the year.

“I look forward to seeing how this club will grow and what other projects we will take part in to help this school and community have a more peaceful environment,” sophomore member Hannah Spillers said.

The club is open to anyone and meets on Mondays during the first half of Power Hour in Mr. Johnson’s room.

“Hopefully we will be able to make people more positive and happy, given the name of the club,” Hughes said. “We want to brighten up the school and help it have more of a vibrant atmosphere, so it can have that same effect on the students and staff.”

Overall, Hughes wants to create a more positive environment in OHS.

“Smile at everybody; you never know who needs it,” Hughes said.