Quinn Elementary student Grace Tripp is only in fifth grade, but already she’s had a big impact on her community. One of her favorite service projects this year: making bookmarks.

“If you check out a book [at the school library] with a bookmark in it, you get a kind message,” said Tripp. The colorful bookmarks have notes such as "Read more" or "Stay positive."

Tripp is one of 29 peer leaders, a program rolled out by staff in September. Not only do the students demonstrate model behavior — including respecting each other, participating in class, and trying their best — but they also brainstorm, plan, and execute service projects for the community.

Tripp started with the leadership group — which requires an application with three teacher references and 20 student signatures — to help the school “get better,” she said. Classmate Ava Costa had similar reasoning.

“I wanted to make a good first impression for incoming students,” said Costa, explaining that the fifth graders are the oldest in the school, and must set an example for the other grades.

School officials wanted a program that would help out the school community, as well as teach kids new skills, said Social Outreach Worker Tiffany Martin. The program fits into the school's Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program, which focuses on rewarding positive behavior more so than punishing bad behavior.

However, the important part is that students want to be involved, and are not nominated or elected, said Martin. These positive role models must not only show qualities such as respect, enthusiasm, and dependability, but also dedicate time before, after, and during school hours to community projects that they've brainstormed themselves, she said.

Since its start, the peer leadership group has made hundreds of bookmarks that promote kind messages for the school library, and participated in the Great Kindness Challenge, through which students perform various good deeds — such as smiling at 25 people or picking up 10 pieces of trash — during a designated week.

Students are currently working to host the "Souperbowl of Caring," a food drive for the Council on Aging's food pantry to be held January 30 through February 3.

The group has also talked about a campus cleanup, problem solving on the playground to resolve conflict, and helping out younger students in classrooms.

"The ideas are all from the fifth graders. They're facilitating all these ideas on their own," said Principal Kyle Grandfield. Students reach out to potential collaborators, they create flyers, and get teacher approval on their own, he added.

"I'm anticipating that next year, the amount of students interested in this would be a very large number," said Grandfield. He said the program has received praise from parents and teachers alike, and that he hopes to grow the peer leadership group to include the fourth grade next year.