Students and staff participate in Stomp Out Bullying

October 1 kicked off the beginning of Anti-Bullying month. This years theme for the awareness month is Stomp Out Bullying, which represents the message of ending bullying and “stomping out” the discrimination and hate that bullying can create.

The week started off with faculty, staff, and students all coming together and wearing blue on Monday, Oct. 1. The day started with a mini-lesson from principal Brian Boles about how to prevent bullying at THS. As the day went on teachers and students joined to decorate their classroom doors with positive messages.

Mrs. Carter credits her door to full of inspiring post-it notes to her fourth period students.

“I had the idea by searching on Pinterest and combining it with two separate teacher boards. After that I came in to school and told them the idea and they did it from start to finish,” said Carter

The first day of bullying prevention came to a close with the Lady Trojans and the Lady Wildcats going head to head on the volleyball court. The two, usually competitive teams, wore royal blue warm-up shirts with an anti-bullying message. The Trojans ended up finishing the kind game of volleyball with another win leaving them with a record of 7-1.

“It was a really emotional experience to play with one of our rivaling teams, but at the same time joining together to play for a cause,” said senior Nia Green.

Many THS clubs took part in helping to raise awareness against bullying.

The Beta and FFA Clubs both stayed after school to design positive and bright posters that were hung up around the school for students to stop and read on their way to class. Some students also took part by writing motivational sayings on the way in the building and painting kindness rocks to spread around Danville. Coach Matthew Beard’s second period class made their own digitally designed posters that were hung around the school.

Teachers also have the opportunity to give out kindness passes also known as Caught Being Kind. When receiving this card, it allows a student to enter any home game of the 2018-19 school year for free.

“The [caught being kind] card really motivated some of us to be better friends to each other,” said junior Joseph Carter.

Students of all grades learned new things about bullying that they once thought was a harmless act. “This week really opened my eyes to some things that I would normally think was just a joke. Talking in my classes about all the different forms of bullying was really mind blowing,” said senior Skylar Hamlett.

On Friday, Oct. 5 The week ended with another successful campaign and intertwined with the Beta Clubs campaign to end childhood cancer. Students were encouraged to wear a gold or yellow. They are also letting students have the opportunity to wear a hat when paying $1. All the proceeds will be donated to the Claire Parker Foundation.

During all three lunches students had the opportunity to sign an Anti-Bullying pledge. This poster signifies that students are pledging to “be kind, be respectful, and include everyone.”  

“It was awesome, since it’s my first year here it felt couraging to know I have a school that cares about me,” said freshman Sarah Gato.  

THS completed the first week of Stomp Out Bullying, but will continue with programs and activities throughout the month of October and the entire year.