COLLINSVILLE, Okla. -- A Collinsville teacher's project addressing mental health is gaining attention from thousands on social media.
Karen Loewe has been teaching for more than 20 years, but calls last Thursday one of the most impactful days of her career.
The seventh and eighth grade ELA teacher had her students anonymously write down what was troubling them.
Loewe says some students wrote about deaths or illnesses in the family, but what really shocked her were notes about suicide, drugs in the family, and abuse.
She says it was an emotional day for everyone as they read aloud some of the notes. Loewe believes her students learned a valuable lesson to be kind to people because you have no idea what they're going through.
"We know this person’s normally happy and outgoing but that day they’re sad, something may have happened at home, you may give that little bit of empathy, like cut them some slack," said Loewe.
Loewe is keeping the bag full of crumpled notes by the door to her classroom for the rest of the school year to remind her students not to dwell on the negatives.
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