A West Side Elementary School art project has taken the nation by storm. Since its launch late last month, the delightful Peptoc Hotline project — a hotline you can call to hear words of wisdom and uplifting messages from kindergarteners and grade school students — has caught the attention of countless news outlets, including CNN and NPR, radio stations and even the Drew Barrymore Show.
Those who have yet to call the hotline can do so at 707-998-8410.
“Within two days we were getting 500 calls an hour,” said West Side art teacher Jessica Martin.
As of March 7, the hotline was getting 4,000 calls an hour. At its peak, the line was getting 97 simultaneous calls at any given moment.
“It’s really testament to the profound suffering in the world and how much we need these kids to help lift us up,” Martin said.
It’s easy to see why the unique project has gone viral.
One option — option 4 — allows you to hear a group of giggling students and the joy they emit is contagious. If you’re not smiling ear to ear after that, you likely will be after listening through the other options.
“If you’re feeling mad, frustrated or nervous, press 1. If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press 2. If you need a ‘peptoc’ from kindergarteners press 3,” instructs the hotline.
One of the pep talks from kindergarteners includes a resounding chorus of, “you can do it.”
Nuggets of life advice, among others, include, “be grateful for yourself,” “dude, live it up” and, “the world is a better place with you in it.”
The students have gleaned all this knowledge and resiliency not only from their own experiences, but also from their own support systems and Martin said their uplifting messages are a great reflection of the strength in the community.
Martin said if joy is the force of strength, then “nothing can break it. Nothing can break their joy and I think it is something for us to cultivate.”
The story behind the project
Martin, and Asherah Weiss, who has taught in Healdsburg schools, connected via Zoom. They also connected with Healdsburg High School art teacher Linus Lancaster, who was behind the Hopeful Monsters exhibit that was put on display in the Purity building last year.
“They (the high school) had done a project called Hopeful Monsters, a project that was focused on empathy and empathy for one another and for ourselves, and we said, ‘How can we translate that project to something that would work for a younger group of children?’” Martin invited Weiss to co-teach the project.
At the root of the project is the resiliency of West Side students, who over the years have been through multiple wildfires, evacuations and the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these kids have been through more major life events than some adults may see in a lifetime and through it all, resiliency has bloomed.
“The kids here have amazing advice and they are so incredibly resilient. They’re dealing with a pandemic, losing all of their friends, staying home, having to evacuate every year with wildfire, and not to mention just the every day of being a kid,” Martin said.
With this in mind, Martin wanted to do a project that would show students a broader definition of art — it’s not just painting and sculpture, it can be something public and free that contributes to society in a positive way.
“My goal as a teacher here is to really show them the greatest definition of creativity and the role that plays in society. We said let’s look at a social practice project where we’re seeing art as a hotline and some inspirational fliers,” Martin said.
The school has around 138 kids among seven grades. Martin and Weiss went classroom to classroom asking students about what they could say to someone having a hard time and what they’ve learned over the last few years that have helped them get through a difficult time.
In addition to recording audio for the hotline, students made inspirational fliers that are now pinned up around town.
One of the fliers simply says, “hope for you.” The flier has tear off tabs, each with the word “hope” written on it.
“You would tear that off, put it in your pocket and you can find it later,” Martin said.
So far, students have learned through the project that a small act of kindness can go across the globe in a short period of time, according to Martin.
“I hope they see that the adults in the world are trying to emulate and listen to what they are saying,” Martin said.
Since the hotline was set up, Martin has been getting words of praise and many letters of thanks from those who’ve used the hotline.
Martin recalled one touching story of a woman with stage four cancer who called the line while undergoing IV treatment and shared the line information with nurses and friends.
“For me, what will be rewarding is that they (the students) realize that something this small, saying one little thing could make a difference for millions of people,” said Rima Meechan, West Side principal and superintendent.
Martin said it’s also important that the students understand the power they have and to use it wisely. Meechan cited the Uncle Ben/Aunt May quote from the “Spiderman” movies: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
How to support the phone line
Peptoc is run through a hotline service. In the first few days of the hotline, Martin was having to fundraise $800 a day to keep it going.
She was able to reach out to the hotline company president and they donated a million minutes and provided a discount for per-minute pricing. However, the million minutes will likely only last a few weeks as more and more calls pour in from around the world.
“If we continue with the current call volume, it’s going to cost us $1,000 a month. We’re absolutely determined to keep it going, whether it’s finding additional sponsorship, or getting 50 cent donations from people who listen to the hotline,” Martin said.
They’ve also set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the project. The GoFundMe goal is set at $20,000 and as of March 8, the campaign had raised $6,013.
“It’s all very exciting,” Meechan said.
