Ideas to Improve Student Awareness     

Apathy continues to be the greatest challenge in schools.  We are generally aware of our problems and challenges in life but fail to fully comprehend those of others.   Changing school climate in a meaningful way will flourish when students and staff truly understand the plight of others.  The following activities provide avenues for exploring how others feel, think, and act.  Each activity has a special quality all its own that lifts awareness and celebrates life.  Sometimes, we must take great risks to accomplish the highest goals.  Each of these activities requires great risk.  The risk is worth the reward.

Friendship Day / Hug Day

We are bombarded every day with negativity.  A person needs more 14 hugs a day to grow emotionally as a person.  This can be a meaningful smile, a handshake, a hug, a thank you.  We all need hugs.   This may be one of the riskiest activities but one of the most rewarding. 

Objective:  To use the power of touch to reach out to others in a meaningful and caring way.

Materials:  Yarn to make lots of Friendship Necklaces

With your fingers together, wind yarn around your fingers 15 to 30 times.  With a second piece of yarn (long enough to reach from just below the “v” in your rib cage around your neck and back), find the middle of the piece and tie tightly around the yarn that was wound around your fingers.  Then cut both ends of the yarn, to make 30 to 60 three inch pieces.  Tie the ends of the second piece to finish the necklace.  Two students will exchange yarn pieces by taking one piece of yarn out of their “ball” and tying it onto one another’s necklace.  People are encouraged to say something nice to each other when the exchange takes place.  A hug is also welcomed.

Make at least one necklace for every person in the school (principal, secretaries, custodians, teachers, students – everybody).  You may want to make about 10% more than needed with extra material available to make more.

Pass the necklaces out before school in several locations, depending on the size of your school.  Make necklaces available between class periods and lunch.

Possible Objections:

One of the objections is that students will be breaking school contact policies or hug inappropriately.  There may be an even stronger objection in middle schools.  Have a very short assembly or show over the school’s TV system appropriate ways to hug while providing the instructions on how to pull a piece of yarn from your ball and tie it onto another person’s necklace.  If hugging is definitely out, people can share handshakes, high 5’s, and nice comments about each other.

The other major objection may come from the custodian because the short pieces of yarn are all over the building.  You could offer to sweep the halls at the end of the day. 

Voices Assembly

Voices is a very powerful program that will heighten students awareness of their actions, thoughts, and words towards others. 

Different Ways to Put on the Assembly:

My preference is to have real people and real stories in direct view of the audience. 

Below is a format that can be used to put on such an assembly.

1. Select students after visiting with teachers, counselors, and students.  Visit with each student, selecting more than is needed.  A couple of students will probably decide not to proceed.  Most students have a story to tell.  Some stories may seem very simple on the surface (4 pt. student; having to work) while others horrifying (raped; real death threat by a parent).  A broad spectrum of students with different kinds of stories is needed.  Male and females are nice.  A faculty member or two adds depth to the assembly. 
2. Have each student provide signed parent permission.
3. There are several ways to for students to explore their feelings and thoughts   (boundary breaking, session to discuss their story, having them write their story at home / away from group). Eventually, have each student write down what he / she would like others to know.  The length of each student’s presentation should be from one to 3 minutes in length.  Every word must be completely honest, other students will know if it is not.
4. Have a rehearsal or two.  Students must know their part thoroughly but parts do not have to be memorized.  They part must come from the heart.  
5. Select other students to do the introduction, skits, music, ending, and other.
6. An introduction, lead in skit, music, and closure are nice touches. 

Sample:  Introduction

               Skit

               Lead in to Voices

               Voices (1-8)

               Music

               Voices (9-16)

               Ending

               Music

7. Performing one assembly in an auditorium is the ideal.  Staging of the assembly is important:  various levels of seating, same color of clothing, at least two microphones, and warm lighting on the speaker only.

This is only a format.  Use your judgment.  Remember, honesty and heart.

Examples of some of the stories: 

·      My perfect ASB President involved in everything talking about her abusive father.

·      The four point student discussed her paralyzing fear of failure.

·      The young mother who shared her love for her child and the pain of being a teen parent.

·      A young man described the scene of his accident that burned his face almost beyond recognition and how his father discovered him.

·      The star athlete who shared his learning difficulties.

·      The special ed student who articulated the degrading humiliation by others.

Sixteen students participated in the first Voices assembly.  The presenters were afraid that students would say negative comments to them after the assembly.  The opposite happened.  All of them reported overwhelming appreciation shown by other students.  No other assembly was talked about more than Voices.

 The Wall

 Objective:  To understand how words are used to hurt.

 Materials:  At least 50 boxes.  The wall looks great when built with hundreds of “bricks.”

 Plan of Action:

1. Make a list of words that hurt.  Avoid censorship – the words must be authentic and hurtful.
2. Put one word from the list on the front of each box.

(You could also give the participants from one to four boxes and have them put hurtful words on the front.)

3. Build a “brick” wall by staggering the boxes.  If the wall is built before students enter, have them walk past the wall before being seated.
4. Discuss the words on the bricks.
5. Ask one participant to come up and pull one brick out without damaging the rest of the wall.  The participant may talk about why the word is offensive.  The brick is now fair game for destruction. 
6. Continue to ask students to pull out one brick at a time.  The facilitator can make comments about the ideas expressed by the participants.
7. Proceed until the wall has crumbled.  Use the crumbled wall as a catalyst for further discussion.
8. Closure and evaluation.

We Care Day

We Care Day is a clear and positive action for schools invested in climate change and empowering youth.  It is a day students, staff, and parent volunteers join together in a common experience to share thoughts, feelings, ideas, and work together cooperatively as a team.  Below is only a framework.  Meet your needs by using available expertise.   

Selection of Facilitators:  Select adults and students you think will be appropriate and comfortable with the roles and responsibilities of the day.  The facilitators can be paired together in an adult / student team (at least one facilitator per 8-10 groups).  Conduct a training session.

Selection of Students:  Visit with school staff about possible participants. Limit the number of participants to 80.  Invite a broad cross section of the student population.  The students will be put in groups of 8-10 by the facilitators before the activity.

Expectations:  This is an all day commitment.  This is not a day of game playing but a day to explore yourself and to have a better understanding of others.  Information shared is strictly confidential. 

Facility:  Use a large room (gym, student center, cafeteria with tables) with a breakout room / area for each group.  Having access to an auditorium or little theater would also be nice.

When:  Saturdays or non-school days (Teacher Inservice, President’s Day, Veteran’s Day)

Possible Day Schedule:

            8:30     Registration

            9:00     Introduction of day activities, ground rules, ice breakers, group bonding

            10:00   Break, small group activities (name game, bonding activities, role plays)

            11:30   Lunch, Lunchtime activity in pairs

`           12:15   Small group activities (inner dialogue activity, hot potato, reflective listening,                   and break)

            2:15     Energizer, and Inside-Outside

            3:15     Dinner, Small Groups (warm seat), Problem Solving activity

            5:30     Large Group (problem solving, debrief, closing activity, evaluation)

Roles and Responsibilities of Leaders:  role modeling, confidentiality, handling resistance, directing not controlling, and taking care of others.

Five Basic Components of Participants:  bonding, feelings, self-disclosure, problem solving, and processing and closure.  

Squat Game

Purpose: To give students a different perspective on hunger, helplessness, and responsibility. This game is a dramatic representation of oppression and helping others.

This activity can be done by a single classroom or by hundreds of people.  Arms length spacing between participants is important.  The Squat Game includes a story that is read about the pain of hunger and suffering, and the necessity for human touch while participant’s squat. 

(Complete details of the Squat Game can be found on the main page and under Activities/Special Projects.)