With nearly 2000 students on campus, many kids may find themselves lost in the crowd. Whether they are involved in a less popular club, sport, or class their success and recognition may feel minuscule compared to others. This year, principal Stacy Whaling decided to make a change.

For over 16 years the Redhawks’ school motto has been “Work hard, Be nice.” With the idea of making students feel appreciated, Whaling changed the motto to “You matter”.

“We still fully believe in working hard and being nice, but what we kind of realized was that our students are actually really nice and they work really hard,” Whaling said. “Every student has a value and every student has unique interests and lives. Sometimes I think students, even adults, forget how important they are. So we wanted that to be the message.”

For senior Mikalea Turnage, the motto hits close to home. Participating in Future Farmers of America, a club with only 26 members last year and starting with eight this year, she now feels seen.

“Our club isn’t as popular as others,” Turnage said. “So the motto really resonated with us and hopefully will create change on campus and heighten our involvement.”

Simply changing the motto is one thing, but implementing the motto is another aspiration of Whalings.

“It’s something that I think we have to be intentional about all the time,” Whaling said. “I think that we need to do a better job of highlighting all the great things that students do on campus, not just, you know, the things that are more commonly posted about.”