November 1, 2013 at 4:33 p.m.
RHS students 'mix it up' at lunch
RHS students 'mix it up' at lunch
The club, made up of students from RHS and the Northwoods Community Secondary School (NCSS), held the event Wednesday to encourage their peers to meet new people and engage in discussions regarding bullying and equality.
The project, done in conjunction with the student council, started with a piece of candy. One piece of Life Savers was handed to each student as they entered the cafeteria. The students were then encouraged to sit at the table marked with the same color as the candy, instead of sitting with the same friends they sit with every day.
Pamphlets with various inspirational quotes were placed on each table. The quotes were related bullying and equality and the hope was the students would discuss those issues while getting to know people with whom they might not normally interact.
"We're trying to get people to realize that bullying is not a good thing. We're trying to get people to get to know different people, people they may not always talk to," said NCSS junior Anavay White. "We're giving everyone a (piece of candy) and encouraging them to sit at the table with their color. We're giving them quotes that are inspirational and against bullying and the point of this is to get them to talk about the quotes and think about what's a good idea and what's not. Bullying is a problem and you need to meet new people in order to have friends to help you with that problem."
White said one of the goal's of the project was to get students to stretch outside their comfort zones.
"We're hoping that they realize that meeting new people isn't all bad and that the Diversity Club is a good thing and meeting new people is a good thing and being who you are is a good thing. When you meet new people, you'll find out that you have a lot of differences, but that's not always a bad thing. It's a good thing to learn about each other," White said.
Fellow Diversity Club member Lorrin Olski, a junior at RHS, said the exercise could lead some students to widen their social groups.
"We're hoping that they'll meet new people and socialize and learn to accept new people into their group," she said.
As for the Life Savers themselves, RHS junior Kayla McFadden said the candy was chosen for a specific reason - to show people how making new friends can truly turn someone's life around.
"We chose Life Savers because making friends can truly be a lifesaver. If we have people that don't know other people and they're seriously thinking about taking their life because they have no friends and they're being bullied, making friends can truly make a difference to save their life," she said.
Participation was not required, some students chose to sit at their normal table with their usual friends, but many dove in headfirst, participating fully in serious discussions with people they may have never talked to before.
"A lot of people are still kind of apprehensive, but they're still able to read the quotes and discuss them with their friends and even doing it with people that you know, it's still a good thing. I think a majority of them have gone to different tables to meet people they've never met before," White said.
Most of the students who participated in the exercise pronounced it a success.
"It's seems like a really nice idea and I think we should do this a lot more so people can start making more friends and we can talk about bullying and how people can stop it in different ways," said RHS junior Faith Carris. "It's really important because you get to know people that you don't know. Then, if you do that, you'll get to know more people and more people can stand up for each other to stop the bullying. I think this is a really good idea and I hope we do it every year."
"We're learning to not bully and talk to more people, to open your mind to everybody. Stuff like this is great," said RHS junior Travis Jaeger.
The club plans to continue the "mix it up" exercise in the future. It is also looking to add new activities to its repertoire.
"We'll think of new activities we can try in the future. We're having each table write down things we can do in the future," said Olski.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.