LAYTON—When students at North Layton Junior High enter the school they’re greeted by a large mural with notable figures like Robert Kennedy, Muhammad Ali and Neil Armstrong. Along with these famous portraits are their quotes that have positive messages intended to help students believe in themselves.

“When I first came here a parent showed me some research that lower socioeconomic at-risk schools typically had walls that were filled with rules,” said Principal Edward Campbell. “Things like ‘don’t run in the halls,’ or ‘don’t cheat.’ They were commandments that were considered negative. In higher socioeconomic schools their walls had things like ‘you can go to college,’ ‘you can do it.’”

Campbell said he took all of the signs down. “I put up quotes with positive statements, like ‘failure is part of life and that’s OK.’ ‘Life is hard, you can do it. We believe in you.’”

The signs were acrylic with a picture and wording, he said. “We included women and people of all ethnicities. Some are famous like Chinese businessman Jack Ma who says ‘don’t give up.’”

A Logan artist, Tanner Stephenson emailed out to everyone offering his services, he said. “We liked him and hired him. We talked about doing a mural with quotes in the commons area where students and parents could see it.”

He came in and walked around, said Campbell. “Kennedy is my hero and he picked Muhammad Ali. We got some calls that different people said the quote first so we have two pictures to give proper credit.”

Stephenson started by hand painting the wall, Campbell said. “Then he used architectural paper and plastered it with the picture. He’d cut out the sections he wanted black and spray paint it. He’s done it in schools across the state but this is the first one in Davis School District.”

The other signs with positive messages hang throughout the school. “The kids say it’s cool and they like it,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll read a quote over the intercom and say the first one to find it and tell me gets a candy bar. They’ll look it up and come running to me and say ‘I found it.’ I have a quote by Robin Williams and the kids probably don’t even know who he is.”

Campbell has done other things to promote positive messages to his students. “We painted the whole cafeteria with college pins across the top of the wall that says North Layton Junior High is college ready,” he said. “We’re right by Hill Air Force Base and 18 percent of our students are from military families so we have a banner that says ‘the Longhorns support our troops.’”

The goal is to make the school look nice, said Campbell. “The building is old. It was built in 1969. I want them to be proud of it and proud to be Longhorns. Other buildings might be newer and fancier but I want them to take pride in their school and know they can succeed as well.”