Resilience, responsibility, empathy and kindness: four words that most Troy High School students cannot name when put on the spot, despite them being written on virtually every wall with empty space. Troy High School’s Character Committee has taken several measures over the past four years to foster these values within students: painting them on pillars, creating posters and ingraining them in lesson plans. Newly, the Character Committee introduced Pay it Forward Cards, which allow students to recognize their peers for demonstrating resilience, responsibility, empathy or kindness. 

This rapid implementation of resilience, responsibility, empathy and kindness is all part of Troy High School’s larger effort to be considered a School of Character. Schools of Character are nationally recognized for fostering positive learning environments. To be recognized, schools must successfully implement 11 principles, the first of which requires schools to embed a set of core values into their culture. On the way to achieve this, Troy High School has been constantly finding ways to engage students with the school’s chosen values.

Paulina Wilson, part of Troy High School’s Kindness committee, describes the conception of the Pay it Forward Cards. “We wanted [the cards] to be an intrinsic activity, to practice getting the four character traits into action.”

The Pay it Forward Cards were intended to act as a constant reminder of Troy High School’s four traits to staff and students. However, the cards’ purpose may be taking longer to realize than initially expected. 

“[Change] doesn’t happen overnight,” Wilson notes, “but it is our hope to plant that seed of kindness into students and watch it grow over time.” Wilson expresses confidence in Troy High’s ability to be a School of Character.

The Pay it Forward Cards offer an easy way to track Troy High School’s commitment to resilience, responsibility, empathy and kindness. However, the concept of the Pay it Forward Cards hinges on the student body’s cooperation, which has been less than stellar. 

Senior Nadia Dietz explains what became of her card. “[The card] didn’t last long. I was fiddling with it, ripped it, and decided it was time for it to be thrown out. I didn’t really have any intention of passing it on.”

Many of the Pay it Forward Cards have met a similar fate, crumpled up in the halls, stuffed in the bottom of backpacks and balled up in trash cans. It has only been a little over a month, and the student body seems to have all but forgotten about Troy High School’s effort to pay it forward. Students’ reluctance to participate with the cards is possibly due to a lack of student interest. 

“[Troy High School] is very academically focused,” Dietz notes. “For a lot of students, school is a place to work, so when Troy High tries to promote kindness or mental health awareness, it tends to be ignored.”

Of the thousands of cards that were distributed to the student body on Sept. 8, many are yet to find their way back to the office. Because the Pay it Forward Cards have largely fallen out of use, they are likely not tracking the kindness at Troy High School accurately

Nadia Dietz shares her views. “I do think that there is kindness that happens, and I think that people recognize that. But people are also probably not going to take that extra step to write it down.”

So perhaps these cards were not as effective as expected. However, the cards’ lack of popularity does not necessarily indicate a lack of character at Troy High School. 

Senior Maria Arwashan shares her experience having completed a Pay it Forward Card. “I didn’t know if [the cards] would be super effective, but I like the Pay it Forward message. I knew that if change was going to be made, I had to take it upon myself to create that ripple effect.”

Contrary to the number of cards in the office, Arawashan’s sentiment is not rare at Troy High School. Students are embracing the character measures at Troy High School and express optimism in the student body’s ability to create change in the community. 

Arwashan describes an ideal Troy High School as “a place where all opinions are accepted, and everyone feels validated,” but the question remains, are the character measures that Troy High School is taking bringing us closer to this vision?