There’s no way that Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss, who teach art at West Side Union elementary school in Healdsburg, California, could have imagined just what the response and impact their art project would produce.
Though, with all the strife and conflict going on seemingly everywhere, locally to globally, their idea was tailor made for mass market.
To start a free, inspirational hotline, PEPTOC, for family and friends, and those who need a little joyful pep talk.
Jessica started and formulated the art program at the West Side School in 2017, and was concerned about the stress that her students have to go through, from the pandemic to the war in Eastern Europe, ideological divides and the harsh realities of the world, to having to evacuate due to wildfires.
A way for the 5-12 year-olds to find joy by giving joy to others, many of whom are in some form of crises.
Depression rates tripled from 2020 to 2021, according to a study from Boston University, and continued to worsen, eventually affecting 1 in every 3 Americans.
They all discussed just what would help others, the children remembering just what helped get them through tough times.
So the project was formed and the hotline would feature pre-recorded unscripted motivational life advice and words of encouragement.
They hoped it might receive a hundred calls a day.
A few days after it went live on February 26th, it received 500 calls an hour.
That quickly grew to 11,000 calls per hour.
By March, 60,000 calls per hour.
5 million calls and counting.
Martin said staff and patients at Johns Hopkins medical center had been regularly calling the hotline. Rima Meechan, the school’s principal and superintendent, heard from a woman with cancer who calls during her treatments. Weiss said she had seen the school’s office manager in tears on the phone with the administrator of an Iowa elder care facility, where most patients are over 90 years old. “She was calling to thank all of the kids, because she played it for everyone who was part of that facility, and she said: ‘I haven’t heard laughter like that from them in years.’”
“Hi, welcome to Peptoc, a public art project by West Side school. If you’re feeling mad, frustrated or nervous, press 1,” says the voice of the child on the hotline’s opening message.
“Need words of encouragement, press two.”
“Need a pep talk from kindergartners, press three.”
And they have these options also available in Spanish.
After reading the morning’s headlines, I tend to need all of the above, so I was eager to give it a try. It took several attempts to get past the busy signal, but it was well worth it. I was immediately transported back to the optimistic days of my youth and reminded that often life is less complicated than we make it. It was clear these students have quiet wisdom well beyond their years, as well as a true appreciation for ice cream. I won’t spoil things by revealing all their tips, but here are a few I took to heart:
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“If you’re nervous, go get your wallet and spend it on ice cream and shoes.”
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“If you’re frustrated, you can always go to your bedroom, punch a pillow or cry on it and just go scream outside.”
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“If you’re mad or frustrated, you can do what you want to do best or you can do flips on the trampoline.”
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“If you’re sad or angry, go get a cookie, a smoothie or an ice cream.”
Other pieces of advice could save you a great deal of money on therapy:
And finally, a cognitive-behavioral approach:
Said Jessica, “It’s been a very rough few years. You kids are incredibly resilient. And you found all kinds of ways to stay joyful. So all of the responses are really coming from the kids and their own life experience, and the advice they’ve gleaned over their short years on this planet.
I am so proud of these kids. It is so important that they see that they have this tremendous power to lift up the world"
It's so accessible to just make a phone call, and it's been shared widely because people are touched to hear young voices imparting genuine, silly, and profound statements.
People clearly need this right now."
People clearly do.
Martin explained that Peptoc's free service is currently using up one million minutes donated from their hotline provider, Telzio, but with the thousands of callers visiting every day those minutes will quickly run out. Callers can donate to keep the project running. Just call the Peptoc number and press 6, contribute to the hotline's GoFundMe, or donate online to the West Side School Parent Organization. These donations support a multitude of projects alongside Peptoc, including art and music programming, which lost 75% of their funding post-pandemic, Martin explained. "We are determined to keep it running for all!"
If so inclined, please visit their gofundme.
West Side is a small rural public school with a very small budget. We have had to cut our arts and other enrichment programs by almost 75% due to lack of funding after the pandemic. Thanks to donations and some sponsorship, we have been able to cover the hotline fees to keep the hotline going these past two weeks.
However we hope to keep Peptoc available to ALL, 24 hours a day, for many months or years to come! We also plan to add a new option with rotating surprise pep talks every 1-2 weeks.
Please consider making a donation. Any excess funding we receive will go toward our enrichment programs, which are in desperate need of support. All donations are tax-deductible.
On behalf of the students and staff at West Side Elementary, we thank you for your support!
But first, if and when you need a pick-me-up, please call the hotline at 707-873-7862 (707-8PEPTOC). The school recently added a second number, 707-998-8410, when the first line crashed after being inundated with calls.
I guarantee you will be happy that you did.
Just a little friendly advice.
For what that’s worth. :-)
"Adults support children, but we don't really celebrate how much they support us," said Jessica "And to be able to be comforted by them gives us great hope that maybe we're all going to be OK."
In our world, there is some very sour medicine afoot.
A small but very needed spoonful of sugar that helps it go down in the most delightful way.