Brookfield Girl Scouts are scattering rocks, kindness in the community

BROOKFIELD - Right now, there are more than a hundred rocks scattered around Brookfield and Elm Grove that will make you happy.  

At least, that's the Dixon Elementary Girl Scouts' goal.  

Troop leader Elizabeth Schmidt said they are on a "kindness mission," hoping to spread kindness around the community through these rocks.  

Each colorful rock bears a message like "You are loved," "There is sunshine in my soul," or simply "Hope." Last month, the fourth-graders sat down for an hour at their troop meeting to decorate and write these positive messages on the rocks, and since then they've been hiding them around Brookfield and Elm Grove for people to find. 

Kindness rocks 

Schmidt said she wanted to do something with the rocks after her mom, who lives in North Carolina, found a random kindness rock in a parking lot. Since she's going through breast cancer, the positive message on the rock really affected her.  

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"She said, 'Oh, my God, it just made my day finding this rock,'" Schmidt recounted.  

The Kindness Rocks Project is all over the United States, started by Megan Murphy, a woman who would walk along the beach looking for heart-shaped rocks or sea glass, and then one day decided to write on some rocks. One of her friends ended up finding the rocks and texted her, "If you did drop this rock, it made my day." And so she decided to make more rocks, and the project was born.  

If a simple rock could make such a difference in her mom's day, Schmidt figured it could do the same for someone here. 

Scattering messages

She began picking up rocks everywhere for the girls to use, and even ended up buying a few. She spray painted them fun colors, and then the Girl Scouts decorated them with designs and words of kindness.  

After a spray of paint sealer to make sure the rocks could forge the weather, Schmidt took groups of fourth-grade girls into the community to drop off the rocks for someone to find.  

Some places were random, such as on a hiking trail, but others were intentional. Schmidt said one of the girls suggested they should put a rock on her neighbor's doorstep, since the neighbor's spouse had recently died.  

All the rocks also had the hashtag #DixonGirlsRock on the back, so people who found the rocks could share on social media.  

After placing about 150 rocks, Schmidt said she's gotten several responses on Facebook or Instagram, saying things like, "Love a little sunshine on a rainy day."

"It's been so fun and rewarding seeing someone on the other side that actually receives the rock," Schmidt said. 

A growing project

After seeing how effective these rocks have been, Dixon Elementary Principal Jeanne Siegenthaler wanted to get involved, too.  

"So many times, all we hear about are negative things and sad things, and we all have our personal experiences," Siegenthaler said. "But if you have just a small little rock with a message, that maybe gives them hope or aspiration." 

At Dixon Elementary's next staff meeting, Siegenthaler said, she plans to have the teachers create a few rocks. They can then give them to someone or place them somewhere right away, or they can wait for a few months to give one to someone when they need it.  

"Hopefully this will have them reflect on the small things, and sometimes it's the small things that give the greatest joy," she said. 

Schmidt hopes the project will continue to grow. She plans to introduce it at a school-wide Girl Scouts meeting, make it a project at Girl Scouts camp this summer, and maybe even get more Elmbrook schools involved in the project.  

With 150 rocks, and more to come, scattered around the community, the hope is that someone will pick up a rock and be inspired to spread even more kindness.  

"You hope one small deed will trickle out and will increase and inspire others to pass on the message," Siegenthaler said.