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Billings families spread positivity to school teachers using sidewalk chalk

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Posted at 5:11 PM, Sep 12, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-13 17:14:27-04

BILLINGS — In an effort to recognize Billings teachers for all of their hard work and dedication, parents and their kids got to work over the weekend and chalked positive messages onto the sidewalks in front of all 30 Billings public schools.

“I hope they feel surprised and happy at the same time," said Aidrian Lindley, 11, a Billings student in sixth grade.

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Aidrian Lindley, 11, works on drawing a globe in chalk in front of Meadowlark Elementary School in Billings on Sunday.

MTN News caught up with one group during a stop at Meadowlark Elementary School in Billings on Sunday.

The chalking started as an idea on a Facebook group, but Lughano Borhan was the first to take action last week. She crafted positive messages on the sidewalk in front of her kids school, Poly Drive Elementary.

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Lughano Borhan worked with her kids earlier in the week to write positive messages for teachers in chalk on the sidewalk of Poly Drive Elementary School in Billings.

“I’m in a group on Facebook of ladies. We do different things around town and someone said, ‘Oh, lets chalk the schools.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, let’s do it,’ because we need to appreciate our teachers. We don’t acknowledge them a lot, so I thought this would be a good thing to spread the love and joy," Borhan said.

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After Lughano Borhan started the first chalked school sidewalk, others followed ensuring all 30 Billings schools had positive messages intended for teachers written on their sidewalks.

It was an idea so good, it spread like wildfire. After Borhan posted pictures of her family's drawings, other families leapt to action and made sure all of the 30 public schools in School District 2 got chalked.

Borhan said teachers deserve the recognition.

"I know they go through a lot and we expect them to do a lot. This is our small contribution that we appreciate all they are doing for us," Borhan said.

The chalk messages spread past the Billings school district. The messages were drawn up on the sidewalks of the smaller school districts surrounding Billings, like Independent Elementary School and Blue Creek School and others.

The messages and fun drawings cover what must be acres of sidewalk around Billings. Come Monday morning, its likely the school teachers will start their week off with a smile.

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A chalk message on the grounds at Billings West High School.