Roxie Smith started teaching 8 to Great 13 years ago, but it was called Creative Writing II class. She started the chalk wall about 5 years ago. “At first, we didn’t have a lot on it… then, we started to really do themed and inspirational walls,” she exclaimed.  8 to Great is a lifesaving class that offers students the knowledge of how to not be a victim. “It gives the students 8 high-ways to take hold of their own lives,” noted Roxie Smith. It also helps students fight depression, anger, forgiveness, and anxiety. 

Mrs. Smith will be speaking to schools at the ESU Midwinter Conference in February and is also going to try to promote 8 to Great to as many schools as possible. 8 to great teaches students how to dream, take healthy risks, communicate honestly, and address feelings. Things 8 to Great helps teach students is how to understand the importance of gratitude, and how to find hope for their future.

Smith wanted to provide a place where students could walk through a positive, fun spot every school day. “Students love the ability to take ownership in designing their pages. The students create amazing pages that students can use in the future to remind themselves of this valuable process or teach it to others,” stated Smith. The students in 8 to Great read from Smith’s book, watch video clips that discuss the concept then, do a bullet journal full of poems, notes, and create drawings that illustrate what the students are learning from the 8 high-ways process.

 Positive quotes are written on the chalk wall. Kids in 8 to great and sometimes the student council will help decorate the chalk walls. This year, the Christmas wall was done by Smith’s cadet Mikayla and her little sister Macey Seebohm. The walls are usually decorated during 8th period, so if you’re wanting to help decorate the walls, you can talk to Mrs. Smith during the last period of the day.

Mrs. Smith truly believes that this content saves lives. She claims that she has testimonials from students written that state they are alive today because of what 8 to Great taught them. “People bury themselves in those phones and in all actuality, many people are more lonely than ever before,” she stated. When she first started teaching this it was only a 1-semester class. Now, it is offered both semesters and this makes Smith happy because 50 kids a year get the content of 8 to Great. Her hope is that they will use their bullet journals to teach this to others. Both adults and students benefit from this content.