PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Nine-year-old Grace Fischer feels empowered by the words on her favorite bracelet.
"This one I like it because even though I can't do some things, instead of saying to myself I can't do this, I can say I can't do this yet," said Grace.
Marilee Root, Grace's third-grade teacher at Beacon Cove Intermediate School, made the bracelet for her and for each of her classmates right before their big testing day.
"It was fun because we designed them ourselves like a few weeks before.," said Grace. "We were going to have a paper but then Mrs. Root went ahead and made the bracelets without even telling us and that was a surprise."
Mrs. Root believes in the power of words to encourage young minds, words on a bracelet.
"It's changing that mindset that's all it is. A simple word or phrase can shift your mindset," Mrs. Root said. "A lot of them are, 'I can do this' or 'you can do it'. Two of the kids did try hard."
Mrs. Root calls the bracelets Gee Bands. She sells the Gee Bands through her company, Make Your Great. She posts about the bracelets through Instagram. She even makes them herself sometimes as early as 4:30 in the morning before she heads to school.
Even adults buy the Gee Bands with their favorite positive message.
"I didn't realize not only kids are digging it, but adults, parents, and grandparents, athletes, dancers, and cheerleading teams," said Mrs. Root. "It just proves how empowered we all love to feel, and how much we need those reminders."
"First of all, that teacher did this and surprised them on the first day of testing. [It] Was so powerful for the children because it was a nice surprise, and these words have really turned into mantras for them. And I love that they are using these Gee Bands to empower themselves," Grace's mother.
