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This weekly column is inspired by students and news trends that remind us to “spill the tea” on what’s good. Shout out to Solutions Journalism, Fix the News, Good News Movement, and My Unsung Hero - check them out. Shout out to Millie Rodbell for the name Positivi-tea!
The goal is to practice seeing and spreading the good - looking for positive stories to balance out all the negative ones or finding a positive kernel in what seems like a bad or negative event. Building a practice of finding positivity is not about being naive or avoiding tough times - it’s about reminding ourselves that life can be hard, uncertain, and even unfair sometimes and resilience is fueled by hope and confidence built through action.
by: Dr. Boehner
date: November 16, 2025
Last weekend, I was driving out of my neighborhood and witnessed a neighbor picking up trash on the corner. It was early in the morning and he was by himself. It technically wasn't even in the neighborhood but the bordering street where debris had accumulated along the sidewalk.
I drove away grateful to have a neighbor who cared enough to throw away trash that wasn't his (and wasn't even anywhere near his house). It made me wonder what compels someone to do something that is good to do, not because you are asked or required, but because it "helps" in some small way.
I then started to wonder how often this happens in our own community at Pace. How often do we do things just because it makes our community better, not for recognition, not for credit, but just because? I think, and hope, that this mentality is the norm. But is it the exception?
I thought I'd try a social experiment. What if I strategically put some trash on the ground and watched to see if anyone picks it up? I did a trial run where I placed an empty water bottle near the trash can on the upper patio under the tent. Pretty much everyone walked by it until someone stepped on it. I decided I'd pick up the experiment again the next day.
But while I was outside watching my decoy water bottle, I also witnessed some other interesting exchanges. I saw someone playing 4 square get in another player's face and taunt them about getting out. I saw one student push another student in the back and that student fell down while the other student walked away. I saw yet another student peg someone in the back with a ball on purpose but not part of any game as far as I could tell. Maybe I just picked a bad day? Maybe what I witnessed was just all in good fun? I don't actually know. No one seemed upset, and there was also lots of light hearted merriment and camraderie, but I walked away a little puzzled while thinking about little things we can do for our community.
I ran my bottle experiment again the next day. I placed the plastic water bottle in front of the trash bin and I waited. It was two steps from the bin in a well trafficked path. It would take minimal effort to reach down, pick it up and toss it. But, I watched as over 43 students, faculty and administrators walked past it. I lost track of counting during the recess change over.
It seemed like most people didn't even see the water bottle which is an interesting finding in and of itself. We can't fix things if we don't see them so how can we look more closely at our surroundings and notice things? On three occassions, someone kicked the water bottle and it scuttled away, but still no one retrieved it or tossed it. I saw one person not look down but use their perhipheral vision to step over the bottle.
Eventually, two Upper School students leaving Inman encountered the bottle because one of them stepped on it. Both of them then went to pick it up and they disposed of it in the recycling. I purposefully hadn't interviewed any of the other passers-by because the point was not to call people out. This was not a scientific experiment. There is no generalizing to be done from this. My goal was to orchestrate the opportunity to ask someone what compels them to do something "good" when they could just as easily not engage. I was less interested in why people didn't do it, I wanted to know why they did.
Me: "Hey Randall. You just threw out that bottle. You and Ava are the first people to notice and do something about it. Why did you do it?"
Randall: "I don't know. It's just the right thing to do."
Bravo, Randall and Ava!! Keep inspiring us to do the little things.
coda: I asked someone to review this article and they asked if I thought it was critical of Pace. I don't mean it this way. In the spirit of this column, I'm trying to look for the positive moments or the impulses for 'good' (whatever that means). I'm sure there are hundreds of times that I walk by a piece of trash on campus or in my neighborhood. I don't always pick it up. I don't think that makes me a bad person. But sometimes I do pick it up and I'm curious about why.
Check out past Positivi-Tea articles:
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