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This article is one in a series at 社区黑料 that profiles the heroes, victories, success stories and random acts of kindness found at schools all across America. Read more of our recent inspiring profiles at The74Million.org/series/inspiring.

Sticky notes, those ubiquitous colorful squares used for everything from brainstorming ideas to reminding forgetful parents to pick up milk, were used in a Golden, Colorado, high school for what may be their highest purpose: to help save a life.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B71cPUUHlkT/

It all started when Golden High School English teacher Ashley Ferraro found some distressing graffiti scrawled on the girls鈥� bathroom wall. 

鈥淚s life worth all the bullshit?鈥� was scratched in ink on the white cinderblock. 

鈥淲hen I first saw it, my reaction as a teacher was, 鈥楢h, graffiti! We need to cover this up or erase it or get rid of it,鈥� Ferraro told . 鈥淎nd then I had the thought of, if we do that, are we ignoring the question and the person that asked it and the pain that they鈥檙e in?鈥�

Ferraro encouraged her students to answer, and soon the desperate message was surrounded by sticky notes bearing messages of hope.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2565476843741246&set=ecnf.100008368654075&type=3&theater

鈥淵ES, because you are so LOVED by so many people, even strangers. Sometimes you go through the hard times to get to the good. Trust me, I鈥檝e been there,鈥� read one.

 鈥淭here are many more good times in life than bad times,鈥� read another. 鈥淟ive for those good times.鈥� 

Soon there were so many notes, they spilled out onto the hallway walls. 

“People are going through stuff so severely that they don’t want to be alive anymore,鈥� sophomore Teagan McGovern . 鈥淚 don’t think people grasp how big of a deal that is.” 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the second-leading cause of death among teenagers. The offers information and ways to help. 

Golden High sophomore Hannah Blackman started a to raise money for suicide prevention. 

https://www.facebook.com/hannah.blackman.395/posts/2565479397074324

“I think it’s always 鈥� always 鈥� important to reach out and see if anybody needs help or even just a small act of kindness like the sticky notes,鈥� Blackman .

Ferraro told CNN that no one has yet discovered who wrote the original graffiti message. The responses, however, echoed through the entire school and were undoubtedly heard by others, reinforcing optimism and perhaps even holding off despair. 

Story:

鈥� Mark Neitro (@CBS4Mark)

“Personally, I know going in there even when I’m not having a bad day is just like a good feeling just to see the positivity,” student Taylor Volek told Fox31.

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