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Peptoc Festphoto credit: courtesy of Peptoc.net
A project made by Sonoma County children to promote kindness is celebrating the release of a book and ongoing efforts to make the world a better place.
Artist and educator Jessica Martin says, in 2022, she was inspired by the resiliency of her students at Healdsburg’s West Side Elementary. So Martin, along with artist Ashera Weiss, created Peptoc with the students.
She asked kids a simple question: “What’s something you could do or say to help someone having a hard day?” said Martin.
Peptoc started with hand-drawn posters by elementary students and then turned into a hotline with inspirational messages from children that quickly went viral.
“If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press 2. If you need a pep talk from kindergartners, press 3," as heard spoken by a child on the Peptoc hotline.
It’s old-school technology, a hotline where you call in to listen to a prerecorded message, and it touched a nerve at a time when we were all recovering from pandemic lockdowns.
The messages are sweet and can make you catch your breath at their wisdom:
"The world is a better place with you in it."
"You are okay."
"WE LOVE YOU!"
The response to the students’ messages was overwhelming.
“I added them to the hotline, and two days later it went viral, and now we’re almost three years in, and have received over 17 million calls, and published a book,” Martin said.
Released in August, the book is called “You are Amazing Like a Rocket” and it features posters made by young people from 25 countries.
Martin added the team is also working on expanding the Peptoc hotline.
“We’re gonna expand into pediatric hospitals, and juvenile halls in different communities all around the world. And so people will get to subscribe, and get a call from the Peptoc hotline each week to get a pep talk from kids from all around the world,” Martin explained.
On November 17th, 2024, the public is invited to join a celebration for the children from West Side Elementary and neighboring schools, as well as the new book and new projects. It’s at Little Saint in Healdsburg from 3pm to 6pm. Peptoc Fest is free for students and kids under 18, and there is a sliding scale for tickets for adults.
Money raised will help pay for the hotline to continue, which Martin said still gets 10-thousand calls a day, plus ongoing projects.
Learn more at peptoc.net
