By ALYSSA MATLOSZ and MATTHEW STROMBERG

Staff Writers

“Thank you for being you.”

“You matter.”

“You look great today.”

“Look on the bright side.”

The greetings were written on the little red banners waving atop dozens of cupcakes on Oct. 7, part of a “Respect Week” celebration by health instructor David Moran and his class.

Moran joined the teaching staff in September as a temporary substitute for biology teacher Jeanine Gomez, who is out on maternity leave.

In conjunction with “Respect Week,” Oct. 3 to Oct. 7, Moran’s freshman health class supplied cupcakes with a “positive message” for the entire school.

“We want to hand you a cupcake and say something important,” Moran said, as students distributed the chocolate, vanilla, red velvet and M&M cupcakes.

“We have a positive message on each one to make people feel better about themselves,” said Caroline Stanzon of Moran’s health class.

“It’s the cutest thing ever, and it made me feel happy because I love music and cupcakes,” junior Lillie Karch said referring to Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” and “The Macarana” blasting from a black CD player in the corner.

According to the students in the health class, the music was “self-esteem raising,” and led to a small group of dancing students.

Freshman Megan Kelleher of Moran’s Tuesday/Thursday health class was one of the students dancing.

“I think it was a mix of the people who were there, and we heard a good song come on and we just started dancing. There were a lot of people getting cupcakes and people just kind of joined in,” she said.

“Music makes people feel good,” Moran  told the students standing around him.

“Honestly I do think it was a success, they said they passed out every single cupcake they brought in. I like him, he keeps things interesting,” Kelleher said.

Moran made an announcement over the megaphone for the entire cafeteria:

“We want to give you an important message about how important you are,” he said, his voice booming over the lunch tables.

It comes as no surprise to many that Moran has a bumper sticker reading “just be nice” on the back of his car.

“It’s all about having your mind, body, and spirit in a positive place. It can be a challenge to get all three things going in the right direction,” Moran said. “This project is for healthy mind, body, and spirit, so you can be healthy,” he said.

Principal James Gleason approved of the cupcake celebration, and said it was a nice way to end the Week of Respect.

“I think this was a great idea for the class and a wonderful thing for the school to be doing,” he said.