That's the slogan Kelso High School leadership students are using to campaign for the district's $29.9 million bond.
Following a talk from Kelso Superintendent Glenys Hill, members of the leadership class have held a register-to-vote campaign on campus, polled the senior class on the bond and door-belled Kelso neighborhoods to educate citizens.
"If we can't support the bond in our own school, how's the community going to support it?" said Kelso High senior Chris McCoy. "Everybody is responsible for giving back to their community."
If the bond passes in the March 13 election, Kelso High will get a major modernization, a new roof and 22 new classrooms to accommodate incoming 9th graders. All other schools in the district would also get improvements.
Ballots must be postmarked by March 13 in the vote-by-mail election.
Junior class president Emily Dieter, 16, said the school's classrooms are too crowded and she's sick of the leaky roof causing brown blotches on the ceilings. She calls them "coffee stains."
Dieter and a friend came up with the "mission: possible" campaign. She said that even though she won't reap the bond's benefits if it passes — work won't begin for three years — she hopes the school will be fixed for future students.
"I have a little brother in the 7th grade, and it'll be good for him coming up," she said.
McCoy agreed, and said "things will get worse" if the bond doesn't pass.
"We're leaving this high school in June, and we care deeply for the future Hilanders and their ability to succeed," he said.
If the bond has no student support, McCoy said, the leadership class didn't think it could pass, and members wanted to help educate the community.
"It's hard to buy into a bond if you don't have kids in the schools," he said. "If we can show them why certain areas of the school need to be improved, they will have buy-in."
While going door-to-door to talk with community members, students said they only came across a handful of people who didn't support the bond.
McCoy said he believes all the door-belling and voter registration has helped change the minds of community members and even some skeptical students.
When the senior class was polled about their opinions on the bond, some students offered comments. The majority of them were positive, but a few students expressed concerns.
"I don't think all of the new security is necessary," one student wrote. Another said the bond includes too many improvements at once.
"They are spending too much money on things that don't need to be done," another student wrote.
Assuming they are 18 and can vote, 75 percent of students questioned in the poll said they would vote yes. About 63 percent said they would vote yes if they were paying taxes in the Kelso district but didn't have children in the schools. And 83 percent said they would vote yes if they paid taxes in the Kelso district and had kids in schools.
Hill, the superintendent, said the students have a good idea of what needs to be done.
"From a student perspective, they understand what the building should look like and how it should operate," she said.
Hill said she had such a good time talking to Kelso High about the bond, she'll do it again for future bonds.
"It was a good way to invest time and energy, and the students feel like they're on the team," she said.
Kelso High student body president Adam Heuett said he's glad the students were able to get so involved in the bond campaign.
"We really see a need to push it in the community," Heuett said. "We've done more now than what we had in the past, but it's gonna be close."