WAUNAKEE, Wis. — One Wisconsin teacher is uniting her students using sticky notes.
Jennifer Doucette never questioned what she wanted to be when she grew up.
“I grew up in a family of educators,” she said. “My mom taught first grade, my dad taught math. Then he was a superintendent. My grandpa was a superintendent and a math teacher as well. My brother is a teacher.”
The only decision to be made was what she wanted to teach. She’s now an English teacher at Waunakee Community High School.
Her classroom is about as colorful as it can get. Multiple walls are covered in bright Post-it Notes, written on by students.
Without context, they seem wacky. Some say just one word like “lavender.” Others have inspirational messages, some have doodles. Another says “the smell of Barnes & Noble.”
The messages go back to 2016 when Doucette started the project.
“I had the brilliant idea that at the end of every classroom, I’ll ask a question, and students will write this brilliant one-liner,” she said.
On day one, she asked a question, and it went well. On day two, a student came up with the question. Doucette had already lost control of the assignment, and she loved it.
“‘The smell of Barnes & Noble,’ the question must’ve been ‘what’s your favorite smell?’ Or I had one on the first day of school that said ‘what color does today feel like?’ They can be all kinds of things,” Doucette said.
The prompts and answers can be silly, but they can also make an impact. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows at least a third of high school students experience mental health challenges. Those numbers are even higher for LGBTQ+ students.
“You can put out some of your more vulnerable thoughts, and not worry about people seeing them,” said Devyn Beyhan, a junior. “Even though you’re still putting it out to be seen, because everything’s everywhere.”
Doucette does have a favorite note. She keeps it next to her desk.
“This was a student who really was struggling with her mental health,” she said. “Came back after getting a lot of help, and left me a really neat note letting me know about that. This note I treasure. I will keep this note forever.”
The note thanked her for her help and said Doucette was the catalyst for loving life again.
Something as simple as a sticky note can help teens feel seen. It’s a way for them to release whatever they’re holding onto.
“It kind of gets lost, but it’s still out there, and it’s here,” Beyhan said.
“If there can be any validation to them that their words matter, their life matters, then okay,” Doucette said. “Put what you need to on my wall and let me preserve that.”
Doucette is currently taking all the sticky notes down from the last seven years and organizing them by color, so next year she’ll have a rainbow wall.