A teacher’s “baggage activity” has gone viral this week, with internet users everywhere praising it for the message it sends about the mental health of middle schoolers.

Karen Loewe has been a teacher in Collinsville, Oklahoma for 22 years, and she has seen quite a lot during that time. However, she said that August 22 was “quite possibly one of the most impactful days”of her entire career. Karen, who is a language arts teacher, decided to try out a new activity in her seventh- and eighth-grade classes.

“I tried a new activity called ‘The Baggage Activity.’ I asked the kids what it meant to have baggage and they mostly said it was hurtful stuff you carry around on your shoulders,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

Karen went on to explain that she had her students anonymously write down “what was bothering them, what was heavy on their heart, what was hurting them, etc.” on a piece of paper and then throw it across the room for another student to pick up and read. Once the piece of paper was read, the student who wrote it had the opportunity to come forward and talk about it if he or she wanted to do so.

Karen said that her students wrote about things like “suicide, parents in prison, drugs in their family, being left by their parents, death, cancer, losing pets,” and that some kids even cried while reading the papers because of how heavy it got.

“It was an emotionally draining day, but I firmly believe my kids will judge a little less, love a little more, and forgive a little faster,” she wrote. “This bag hangs by my door to remind them that we all have baggage. We will leave it at the door. As they left I told them, they are not alone, they are loved, and we have each other’s back.”

Karen said that she is both “honored” and shocked by all the praise she has received since her activity went viral.

“You are by far one of the teachers that had the biggest impact on my life just with seeing how much you love your job and helping people just made me want to follow my dreams even more,” one person wrote, with another adding, “I just love this so much, it brings me to tears! You are one amazing teacher and just beautiful inside and out!!”

Find out more in the video below.