It was graffiti of a gracious kind.

When Boothbay Region High School students came to school Monday morning, Jan. 29, most of them— if not all of them — were surprised to find their lockers had been defaced. But the defacing was not belligerent, cruel or negative. Quite the contrary.

Someone had come in over the weekend and put decorative posters with positive, uplifting quotes, sayings or words on all of the lockers. A lot of work but a selfless act that hopefully left some of the students happy, confident and upbeat for the rest of the day – or longer.

Who did it?

BRHS science teacher Lauren Graham had firsthand knowledge of who was involved but she didn’t let on, at least at first. When asked if the students knew by Wednesday afternoon, when she sent us some photos of the posters, she let us know that most of the students knew.

So ... It was the brainchild of Meredith (Roberts) Fowlie, guidance and cultural studies teacher at Southport Central School.

“It's an anonymous project Southport kids did to encourage/cheer up/brighten high school kids’ days ... we have been learning a lot about selflessness and encouragement,” said Fowlie in an email to the Boothbay Register on Monday morning. Fowlie said she was going to talk to the Southport kids that day about intrinsic vs. extrinsic: “Keeping our project to ourselves and not seeking the glory etc. ... just knowing inside it’s the right thing or good thing to do.” All of the posters and quotes were done by the Southport students, but they weren’t told beforehand what was going to be done with them.

Graham, Fowlie, Lauren’s son, Finn, and Fowlie’s son, Andrew, both sixth graders at SCS, along with Fowlie’s younger sons, decorated every locker.

“The (Southport) kids were  excited to be able to encourage 200 people through coloring signs and writing down quotes,” said Fowlie in an email later on Monday. “I didn't tell them before today where these were going ... so today with the extrinsic vs. intrinsic conversation, they were really excited to learn their work decorated the BRHS lockers! I am so proud of these students and love them dearly!”