Two Oregon 7th Graders Spread Positive Messages on Mirrors to Build Girls' Confidence
— -- "You are inspiring."
"You are brilliant."
"You are gorgeous."
These are just a few of the empowering handwritten messages middle school girls in Oregon received on compact mirrors on Thursday.
The mirrors, part of a community service project to build girls' confidence, were handed out at Rock Creek Middle School in Happy Valley, a town just outside Portland. All of the 100 mirrors have a sticker saying "Love My Reflection" on the outside and a positive message on the inside written with a magic marker.
Seventh graders Avery Burn and Genae Vanek were the two brains behind project "Love My Reflection," Avery's mom Annie Burn told ABC News today, adding that Avery and Genae started the project through the international group Destination Imagination.
"They had to identify a community need, come up with a solution and execute it," Avery's mom said. "They chose to work on something close to them--negative self-esteem--which is something they've experienced themselves in the form of peer pressure and negative words."
Genae told ABC News today she heard a lot of girls obsessing and upset about how they looked in the bathroom.
Girls only 11 to 13 years old would say things like, "Oh my gosh, I'm really fat," "My nose is way to big," or "I hate the way I look," Ganae said, adding that many girls would compare themselves to others.
"My friend Avery and I got really sad about this," she said, "so we did this project because girls should feel they’re wonderful, and we wanted to help them create a positive self-esteem."
The girls connected with a local beauty and health store, who donated the mirrors to them, Avery and Genae said.
They added they're hoping to get more mirrors and expand to other middle schools around the area.
Rock Creek Assistant Principal Gregory Harris told ABC News today that he thinks what these girls are doing is "phenomenal."
"In middle school, self-esteem is a huge issue for many girls especially with issues like cyber bullying and bullying in general," Harris said. "Having two girls trying to combat these big problems on their own is pretty amazing and incredible."
Avery said she wanted to tell all girls the following message, "Don't care what other people think of you. You are beautiful."
