Students at South Pointe High School in South Carolina wasted no time in turning around the ugly message that had been spray-painted across a spirit rock outside the school over the weekend, turning it into a message of equality, the Herald Online reports.
The first, racist message, which read “Happy N—ger Month” and was signed “KKK,” was discovered by a school custodian Sunday morning. The message was covered by 9 a.m. that day, the Herald notes. Principal Al Leonard said that there are surveillance cameras on that side of the campus and that the school’s resource officer is investigating.
But as South Pointe students were grappling with what for many was their first real encounter with racism, they decided to decorate over the stone, sending a more positive message. According to the news site, with the guidance of art teacher Ashley Beard, three Advanced Placement art students painted, “We are all =.”
“This is an opportunity for a ‘teachable moment,’” Leonard wrote in an email to faculty and staff on Monday. “We’re not going to let those [vandals] dictate how we react.”
Read more at the Herald Online.