A group is coming to challenge the Grade 9 students at the Estevan Comprehensive School, all in the name of fairness, equality and respect.
For three days, March 19 to 21, two members of the San Francisco group, Challenge Day, will be at ECS to lead full-day programming that is designed to open young people's minds and show them that a world of love and respect is better than one of prejudice and fear.
Moira Grayson, a teacher at ECS who also works for the school division, spoke to the Grade 9 students during a presentation March 6, introducing the program and what they will be doing during each of the one-day sessions.
With Challenge Day coming to ECS, and more anti-bullying awareness coming at the start of April with Pink Shirt Day, there are things being done to confront the issue of bullying in Estevan. Grayson noted that they have considered bringing in the Challenge Day group for a while now.
"Over two years ago we had this committee going, and we were talking about ways to improve the quality of life for kids in Estevan, and the idea of Challenge Day came up," said Grayson. "I think I mentioned it because I'd heard about it years earlier. The kids immediately jumped on it; the one girl especially said, 'Yeah, I've been through it and it's fantastic.' She said it changed her life in positive ways and it was a really, really good experience. Most of what they do is create interaction. That's the primary thing."
If it's considered a success this year, the school may decide to continue hosting Challenge Day each year by initiating the Grade 9 class through this program.
"We're doing it for Grade 9. We're hoping that if this is a positive experience for everybody and then we would do it again next year for the Grade 9s, so each year for several years the Grade 9s would go through it. Hopefully that will help with some of the negative stuff that's going on," said Grayson.
"We're all in one room and we're all in there together for the whole day."
The event will be held each day in the drama room. There will be about 90 students and 25 adults participating each day. The adults will be teachers and administrators at the school as well as police and other community members.
"The community's really been enthusiastically supportive."
It isn't inexpensive to bring in the group, which has appeared on shows like Oprah. The United Way of Estevan donated $10,500, and the school has received sponsorship from other local organizations and companies, both financially as well providing things such as food for all the participants.
Bullying is a concern for many right now, not just in Estevan but in schools everywhere.
"I really wanted to see us trying to do something to change some of the things that are going on around here," said Grayson.
ECS principal Mike Little said, "We have surveyed the kids in the past, and one of the things that comes up is peer pressure and cyberbullying, and we wanted to address that the best way possible."
"We talked about it a while longer and then just decided to see what we could do," added Grayson.
So they started to look for fundraising because of the high cost of bringing in the program and found that the rest of the community was happy to put their support behind something that could be so beneficial to Estevan's youth.
"Once we knew that we were going to have the money in place, we contacted Challenge Day and got things rolling," added Grayson.
The idea had to be run by the school's administration, and she said that Little was very eager to bring in Challenge Day to see how the students responded.
"(It was) just an absolutely immediate 'yes, let's do that.' (The administration) was very, very supportive."
"I hope my school can go forward with this and try to move forward in a positive manner, recognizing all forms of bullying," said Little. "I hope to improve the school's climate, and anything we can do to (move forward) is good."
Little said having a professional organization come in and tackle the issues with them is something he's is looking forward to being a part of. He will be one of the adults involved during one of the days, and the school's two vice-principals will be present for the other two days.
Grayson also encouraged and wished to remind students to get their forms signed and handed in so they would be able to participate.
