The New Ulm Middle School (NUMS) student council partnered with Sippets and Lola’s to create specialized coffee sleeves. Each of the coffee sleeves is decorated with supportive messages drawn by the student council members.

Student council advisor Alyssa Marshall said the coffee sleeve project has been going for three years. Each year, around 35 students in 5th-8th grade create a thousand coffee sleeves, each with a positive message.

Sixth grade student council member Xahyry Luna and Josie Nelson are two of the artists responsible for decorating the coffee sleeves.

Nelson said the council created a list of positive messages in advance before they started decorating the sleeves.

Submitted photo--New Ulm Middle School Student Council Members decorated a thousand coffee sleeves with positive messages for distribution in the community.

Luna said the messages were short and simple reading “have a great day,” “you’re awesome,” “you’re good enough” and “smile!”

The two girls agreed their favorite message to write on the sleeve was “smile.” It was a simple message but they were able to get creative with the design.

Nelson said other student council members preferred writing the message “you matter,” because many of the middle school students appreciate being reminded they are important too.

Since the sleeves are all created by hand, no two are exactly alike. For this reason it makes the sleeves more valuable.

Some people even save the sleeves for the artwork. Though Nelson and Luna only made a few of the thousand coffee sleeves both are able to identify their craft work.

Nelson said she typically used purple in her work and decorated the empty space.

Luna tried to add extra images to her sleeves. On on of the “smile” sleeves she drew a camera to go with the message.

Marshall said the coffee sleeve project is a favorite among the student council. Every year the school does this project, they received photos from people who receive the custom sleeves and appreciated the work.

“It is always fun to see the photos sent from the community,” Marshall said. “It’s good to know we made someone’s day better.”

“It is a great opportunity to give someone the mindset to be positive for the day,” Luna said.

Marshall said the coffee sleeves will be delivered to Sippets and Lola’s this weekend. Customers should start receiving the new sleeves soon after.