A Hamilton middle school teacher's idea to spread art and happiness in the community takes off.
HAMILTON -- Teacher Lora Durr wants her students - and the entire community - to paint rocks.
Really.
"The idea is pretty simple," says Durr, who teaches art to sixth, seventh and eighth graders at Crockett Middle School,
"People paint rocks and put a hashtag on the back, #HamiltonRocks, so the rocks can be linked on social media," she explains.
The rocks are painted in every way imaginable. Some are a single solid color while others feature nature scenes -- one even bears the likeness of a skillfully painted Captain Hook.
Painters then hide their masterpiece throughout the township.
"People who find the rocks have three options; leave them where they were found, hide them somewhere new, or keep them because they love them!," she said.
"They're like easter eggs."
Kilt Festival draws crowd of music, haggis lovers
Durr says she was inspired by similar projects and that she originally intended for the project to be a way to encourage student creativity, spread kindness and teach students how art projects can make a difference in the community.
The idea took off quickly.
Durr says the project ballooned on Facebook before she could even present the idea to her students.
"We had 4,000 members before the the school year began," she said.
Now, Durr says groups ranging from the Girl and Cub Scouts to local senior centers are participating.
"What I really didn't expect was to see whole families sitting around the table painting," she said. "I mean, everything from 2-year-olds to 82-year-olds.
"Look around, you might just find Hamilton Rocks!" she said.
Greg Wright may be reached at gwright@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregTheWright. Find NJ.com on Facebook.