'You Are Beautiful:' Story Behind 7th Graders' Inspiring Notes for Classmates

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Oregon tweens Avery Burn and Genae Vanek are spreading a message of positive self-esteem to classmates, one mirror at a time. Photo: Annie Burn. 

Challenged to come up with an idea to provide community service, Oregon tweens Avery Burn and Genae Vanek looked in the mirror, seriously.

The 7th graders created the “Love My Reflection” project, for which they pass out free pocket mirrors at school with positive messages written on them – including, “You are inspiring,” and “You are brilliant,” and “You are beautiful” – to try to boost classmates’ self-esteem.

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“It was an issue that they could relate to and witnessed friends and family members feeling negative about themselves,” Avery’s mom, Annie Burn, tells Yahoo Parenting about the initiative, for which the girls are fundraising to “help with expenses for mirrors, markers, paint, shirts and to hold community awareness events,” they write on their GoFundMe page.

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Avery, a 12-year old at Rock Creek Middle School, tells Today: “We thought if we did a project that involves people our age, it would help us and help them.”

The duo began their project in October prompted by the educational contest, Destination Imagination. The non-profit organization’s purpose, according to its website, “is to inspire and equip students to become the next generation of innovators and leaders.” Teams that advance to the final rounds of competition participate in “the world’s largest celebration of creativity.”

Yet Annie Burn says the girls have already achieved success. “They have seen a huge difference in girls’ attitudes at school,” boasts the proud mom. “Avery told me that at school girls are still carrying around the mirrors and she can hear them talk about what a great idea it was and hear them complimenting each other.”

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Avery Burn with Genae Vanek and a friend. Photo by Annie Burn.

But the initiative’s reach has grown well beyond Rock Creek. “We have received dozens of emails and comments from around the country saying that they have experienced negative body image and wished that they had peers reach out to them at the time,” adds the mother.

Thirteen-year-old Genae, who attends Cascade heights public charter school, adds that she personally has benefitted from the project with Avery. “This project helped boost my confidence to see that I can make a difference,” she tells Today.

Now the girls want to spread their message as far as they can go. “They have an idea that they would like to start a national campaign where they would partner with other girls and schools to hand out mirrors nationally, free of charge,” says Annie Burns. “They also had an idea where they wanted to host events or themed nights for middle school girls where it would be a fun, positive atmosphere. But the ultimate dream would be to start a non-profit where they could partner with other organizations to not only get mirrors out around the world but to hold events that focuses on middle school girls self identity and girls lifting each other up!”

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