The freshman hallway girls’ bathroom recently got a new paint job and the outcome is inspiring. There are flowers and encouraging words that say, “redefining beauty from the inside out.” The newly painted bathroom is a huge hit among the teachers and girls who have seen it.

“I think it’s beautiful and it’s very pretty, so I give full credit to those people who did it,” freshman Emali Schultz says. “I thought it was cool that someone was doing that to the school.”

The overall reaction of the students was positive. Many of them have said they think the bathroom is brighter and brings a positive vibe to the girls who go in there. Some have even said that they believe going into the bathroom and reading the walls can make someone’s day better or even boost their confidence.

“I feel like there’s a stigma around girls’ beauty,” Art Club student Blue Hatfield, a junior, explains. “It’s very negative and harsh and it [says that girls have] to be cookie cutter. The message brings up a little bit of hope for people that they can just be themselves.”

One of the main goals of the administration when they were planning on going through with this project was to encourage students. Being at school can be rough for some students because they have a hard time with work, paying attention, or making friends. This is something that can encourage students when they see it and know that they are beautiful, no matter what other people may think or say.

“Recently I was at a junior high school and their boys’ and girls’ bathrooms were painted with inspirational quotes and designs,” assistant principal Aaron Howell says. “I thought it was a neat idea to help discourage graffiti and inspire students to do well in school while they are in the bathroom.”

Although the idea originally came from seeing another school that had seen success in painting murals in their bathrooms,the specific design ideas came from the Art Club.

“Mr. Howell was the original person with the idea of murals around the school and in the bathrooms,” art teacher Whitney Carpenter explains. “The design idea came from ideas previously brainstormed in art club meetings, along with designs and ideas found online.”

The process that led up to this involved a popular app that many people use to inspire different ideas: Pinterest.

“The idea originally came from Mrs. Carpenter wanting a safer school space and she’s a very big user of Pinterest,” Hatfield mentions. “She followed in the steps of other schools and decided to paint a mural that has an uplifting message for girls.”

The bathroom in the 400s isn’t the only bathroom that is getting a new paint job. They have plans to continue this decorating throughout the school.

“We plan to paint all of the girls’ restrooms throughout the school over the course of the school year,” Carpenter explains.

If you’re a male and you feel like you are missing out on the newest decor addition to the school, you don’t have to feel left out for much longer.

“By the end of the year we hope to have painted two or three more bathrooms,” Howell says, “including boys restrooms.”

Be on the lookout for newly painted bathrooms throughout the school. Who knows, the bathroom you use the most may be next on the list.