A group of Mississippi teachers turned a boring high school hallway into a work of art
That's an amazing way to show you care. Thanks, teachers.
These lockers had been sealed shut and unused for 15 years at a junior high school in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Image via PCHS-NJROTC/Wikimedia Commons.
But one day, some teachers had some radical ideas for the lockers' destiny — literary ideas!
The teachers at Biloxi Junior High decided to paint the lockers as books.
Photo via Biloxi Junior High Facebook.
Once they started, they knew they were onto something. So they shared their idea on the Biloxi Junior High Facebook page to see if anyone wanted to join them in painting book upon book on the remaining unused lockers.
The response was phenomenal and word spread — all the way to local anchor Trang Pham-Bui of channel WLOX 13 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Intrigued, she took a trip to Biloxi Junior High to see what was going on.
What she found was even more amazing than the Facebook photo showed: mural after mural of hand-selected book titles for the students.
Old drab lockers that didn't even function as lockers anymore — they'd been sealed shut for security reasons — are now the "Avenue of Literature," an awesome ode to learning and reading and a hugely awesome symbol of just how much love teachers have to give.
Photo via WLOX.
From WLOX:
"We thought well, wow, we can really make this hallway look good, and we can make the lockers look like book spines, but then it became much more than just a decoration process," said teacher Elizabeth Williams.
Teachers everywhere often do really cool things to try to fill the budget gaps to make sure kids have a wonderful experience, and Biloxi Junior High is no different.
They even convinced a local charity called Biloxi First to accept their request for $600 for supplies to began painting. And to the credit of Biloxi Jr. High, the school gave the teachers the freedom to do their thing!
"We want students to come back to school in August and walk on the hallway and be absolutely amazed with what we've done and be curious. We want that to be the driving spark for reading in our classrooms," said Elizabeth Williams
Just look at the result.
There's the "Twilight" series, natch:
Photo via Biloxi Public Schools Facebook.
And the classic combo of worldview shifters that is "Animal Farm," "Pride and Prejudice," and "The Bell Jar," as well as classic hard-to-reads "Gulliver's Travels," "Moby-Dick," and "The Scarlet Letter":
Photo via Biloxi Public Schools Facebook.
Do I spy the John Green tearjerker "The Fault in Our Stars"? As well as a student or two volunteering because teachers and students are awesome?
Photo via Biloxi Public Schools Facebook.
Yep.
Teacher Elizabeth Williams describes the teachers' motivations: "Seeing it in person is a completely different experience, and that's what we're hoping for the students. We're hoping the students come and they become completely immersed in a collection that we feel is the best of the best of every genre."
What an awesome show of care from teachers. In the summertime, when the only reasons they have to care is the kindness in their hearts and the love they have for their students and community spurring them on, this small group of teachers transformed a drab hallway into a celebration of reading.
It's a true reminder to each student that there are people who care for them.
Teachers are the best!
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie?
A brown buddha statue sits near a green mountain. Photo by 
Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
Ladybug unexpectedly found during colonoscopyPhoto credit: 
Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."