After almost 20 years educating students in California and Idaho, Ted Meyer found himself in a rut. “I was at a point in my career where I was robotic,” he says. “I felt the system in the U.S. didn’t empower kids the way I wanted to empower kids.”But when he became the new fifth-grade teacher at Rendezvous Upper Elementary School in Driggs, Idaho—population 1,800—he discovered a new way to inspire his students to make a positive impact on their community.

The aha moment arrived in his inbox one morning in the form of an email about the WE program, which helps teachers challenge students to become leaders on issues they’re passionate about. Something instantly clicked for him. “I thought I didn’t have time in my day to do student-centered learning,” says Meyer. “WE gave me an opportunity to make meaningful relationships with the kids—a space where kids could reflect on their community and the world and how to make things better.”

Meyer’s WE club met to brainstorm issues affecting their community. Mental health came up as a major topic, with health care costs in their Teton Valley region being high and treatment centers few and far between. “It's one thing to have physical health, but mental health is that shadow topic no one wants to talk about,” says Meyer.

Meyer and educator Melissa Young, his WE club co-leader, were impressed with how the students opened up. They had created an atmosphere where students felt comfortable discussing their experiences with anxiety, dyslexia and mental illness. The club threw around ideas for how they could help community members struggling with mental health issues. They settled on a unique idea: decorate potted plants with inspirational quotes and notes about positivity and recovery, and then distribute them to mental health and senior care centers.

One student offered hundreds of unused pots she had at home, and a local nursery donated a miniature forest of small succulents to fill them. A fleet of parents volunteered to drive around the sprawling Teton Valley with students to drop the plants off at centers where people were in care.

The reaction to the initiative they called “Pots4Thoughts” was incredible. “People from the community were shocked. No one had ever done anything like this in the valley,” says Meyer. “Something so simple can mean something so big—seeing how a small succulent can grow can improve your mental health.”

Meyer is proud of how this act of kindness inspired his students. They’ve become more confident speaking up and sharing their experiences and problems. Two of his students who have struggled with anxiety have become comfortable reaching out to their peers. “My favorite part is allowing students to find their voice and be comfortable with sharing,” says Meyer. “They feel like they can give their gift to the world and develop their own sense of passion—that has been really powerful.”

Meyer keeps an inspirational note stuck to his fridge at home to remind him of the impact he’s making. It was given to him by a fourth-grade student after a school trip to WE Day Seattle to celebrate the impact their WE club has made together. “This was a LIFE-CHANGING experience,” it reads. With his passion for empowering students rekindled, Meyer would agree.