SAUQUOIT, NY – Sauquoit Valley Middle School students got the opportunity to be themselves Tuesday.

Even if that meant being a little goofy.

The students gathered in the cafeteria of the middle school for an ice cream social, and just to hang out.

It was all part of the school's “Stand Together Stand Strong” theme week.

Leading up to the week, the students learned about the Freedom Writers, a group of at-risk students from California who were labeled as “the kids who couldn’t”, but one of their teachers proved to them that they could.

That’s what Sauquoit Valley 6th grade ELA teacher Tammy Purrington wants students to get out of the lessons learned during the week.

That being different doesn’t matter.

“Things are so hard, especially at the middle and high school years, that we just wanted to give the kids a boost. We want to give them a reminder that they are amazing just the way they are.”

The highlight of the evening for the Sauquoit students was a surprise visit from 3 of the original Freedom Writers.

They joined the kids for some ice cream, then everyone gathered in the high school to watch a new documentary about the Freedom Writers.