Kathryn Sutton

This year’s freshmen class is stepping up to the plate and leading an anti-bullying program to teach 7th grade students at the middle school about how negative bullying can be. The whole plan for the program came from former PAHS student Drew Carter’s senior project, which was presented several years ago. It was a PowerPoint presentation, which outlined a strategy to decrease bullying and get more students to care instead of ignoring the problem. So, when legislature was passed requiring all schools to have an anti-bullying program, the guidance department thought it was natural to use Drew’s ideas.

This program was further developed by freshmen in the Freshman Academy, who are responsible for putting this plan into action. Paige Ferguson, Katy Griffith, Jeremy Lander, Glendys Orellana, and Kirsten Kielburger focused time into updating Drew Carter’s power point. Dorca Salazar and Dulce Velasco, two ESL (English Second Language) students, have converted it into Spanish. The PowerPoint will be presented in classes, over the course of two days, to 7th grade students at the middle school. Abdul Kelly will give the presentation, and the ESL students from the high school will present it to ESL students in the middle school. Because Abdul Kelly is a senior, and is respected as a football player, he was chosen to present. A corresponding poster competition will also be held in the middle school; each homeroom will submit their best anti-bullying poster and the homeroom with the best poster (decided by a vote) will have a pizza party.

This terrific project was organized by freshmen students, and it promises to be a great learning experience for both the 7th graders and the freshmen involved. Next year, the guidance department would love to continue and expand the anti-bullying program. Good job and good luck in your efforts to stop bullying in our schools.

Your browser may not support display of this image.

A student being bullied