Elementary school students build bench with secret compartment to share messages of kindness

All the students in the school can take a paper form that's available available in every classroom, pen something positive about someone else, and deposit the note in a secret compartment underneath the rainbow bench.

“My leg got stuck,” the nine-year-old says, before adding that the rest of his limbs were being pulled to the ground by gravity.

“It felt like quicksand. Not good.”

Before we can appreciate the end of Wesley’s story, we need to know about the beginning of the bench he’s sitting on.

“We made it with power tools,” Wesley smiles, before imitating the noises each one made. “The electric sander sounds like ghzeeeee!”

Wesley built the bench with his classmates at the James Bay Community School, including Tesekla.

“It was so much fun,” Tesekla smiles, adding that painting the bench like a rainbow was her favourite part.

“I wish we made them every day!”

The project was part of their teacher Alyson King’s plan to create a place for positivity in the school, with a twist.