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Feel the love: DeKalb high school offers students hugs to start the day

On Wednesdays, there's something special waiting for students. Classmates and staff line the sidewalks ready to greet teens with a hug.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — How much better could your day be if it started with a hug?

One Dekalb high school reports that simple gesture is setting students up for success.

Every school day, students at Cedar Grove High School arrive by the busload. But on Wednesdays, there's something special waiting for students. Classmates and staff line the sidewalks ready to greet teens with a hug. 

"Being in the school all day, I saw there was a need," Shontica Wallace, the staff member who started the idea, explained. 

"We're here eight hours a day," Wallace said. "We have to make them feel love when they come in this building. You may have kids where they are going to a household where they're not asking 'how was your day' or someone simply saying 'I love you.' But to hear that from someone you least expect is needed."

That's where the hugs come in. With school leaders' support, Wallace began hugging students every Wednesday morning. She admits she didn't know whether students would warm up to the idea.  

"It was kind of tricky," Wallace said. "I thought they don't like contact."

But instead, students loved the plan and a team of teens joined in. 

"It feels great to put a smile on everybody's face," Jocelyn Dodson, a junior, said. "Literally when they come, everyone knows we about to hug them."

Students like E.J. Colson said they're already noticing a more positive vibe in the school day. 

"I just feel like the school is getting closer and closer together," Colson, a sophomore, added. "I feel like doing this helps. It breaks the ice and meeting new people and everything." 

Wallace said some students were so motivated by Wednesday's hug initiative, they wanted to form a "Love Club," to further support staff and teachers with good deeds and acts of kindness. 

While she said she truly believes love can conquer all, Wallace also said she's been overwhelmed by the response. 

"It really blew our mind how many of our kids love us loving on them every Wednesday," she added. 

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