Pledge against bullying: Encourage students to pledge against bullying by signing their names on a cut-out hand or writing a positive message. By the end of the week, an entire banner with colourful hands and positive messages can be displayed in the main foyer so all students can be reminded of how supportive people are.
Positivity Avenue: We created a “Positivity Avenue” where students were given the opportunity to write positive sayings and quotes on a large window for the whole school to see. It was colourful to brighten the hallways, and allowed everyone who felt inclined, to participate.
Footprints: We placed large footprints, made of card stock, all around the school to represent the footsteps of those too afraid to walk to school for fear of being bullied.
Smile Squad: Every lunch during Bullying Awareness Week, all ESP members wore t-shirts with smiley faces and started conversations with various students and encouraged them to compliment one another. When ESP members saw other students sharing positive comments, they gave the students a smiley face sticker. This small gesture made everyone’s day and maintained a positive environment in school.
Wrap A Teacher: Right before the winter holidays, ESP and Social Justice teamed up to do the Wrap A Teacher event. This was a fundraiser to raise money for the Toy Mountain Foundation. A group of teachers volunteered to be wrapped by students in wrapping paper. On the day of the event, students could wrap the teachers when the buy wrapping supplies. This was a very successful and entertaining event which both the teachers and students enjoyed.
Compliments 4 Confidence Week: On each day, everyone was asked to do a challenge like thanking their teachers or smiling at everyone they see. We brought back Smile Squad because it was a success during bullying awareness week. During lunch, we gave out smiley stickers to everyone who did that day’s challenge. We also had motivating posters around the school during this week.
Gingerbread Cookies: In December, we made gingerbread cookies and decorated them. These cookies represented us “taking a bite out of bullying.” We decorated each one with a full black heart to represent the bullies, and a colourful outer shell, to represent humanity.
Videos on bullying: Play videos in the cafeteria during the lunch periods.
Displays: Booths were set up every day of the week to educate students on the types of bullying, the consequences of bullying, the role of the bystander, and places to go for help.
Memorial to victims of bullying: ESP students dressed fully in black and attached a short biography on a teenager who had committed suicide due to bullying. These same biographies were displayed near the cafeteria for students to read.
Mix it up days: Play music during the lunch periods and ask students to try sitting with people they haven’t met yet, not pushing people out of their comfort zone, but ensuring that no one sits alone.
Choose Extraordinary: We took inspiration from Dove’s “Choose Beautiful Campaign” and brought “Choose Extraordinary” to our school. We labeled the front doors with “Average” and “Extraordinary” and locked the average door to discourage students from picking that one. This gave us the opportunity to congratulate students when they walked through the extraordinary door.
Vow of Silence: For Vow of Silence Day, have volunteers take the Vow of Silence. This requires students to remain completely and utterly silent for a full 24 hours. This is a 24 hour long ban on all forms of communication including text, email, etc. The intention of the vow is to support those in the world whose voices have been silenced by violence, poverty, abuse, and disease.
Pink Day: Students are encourage to wear a pink shirt on National Pink Shirt Day. The pink shirt is a symbol to stop bullying. Another event for pink shirt day is to give a pink shirt to each homeroom class. Each class will decorate the pink shirt and include positive messages about anti-bullying. All shirts will be displayed in the school. To ensure that students are wearing a pink item, committee members can purchase pink material and cut it into strips that students can tie on their wrists or arms. These strips will be distributed to students not wearing pink.
Photo Display: Students did a photo activity in which they held up a number of anti-bullying signs. The photos were displayed in the front hall.
Respecting Differences: A door is purchased, and students are able to write positive messages on this door. The door is then displayed throughout the year.
Positive Messages: Happy compliments/quotes written on sticky notes and posted on every locker of the school.
Positive/Negative Message Box: Students may be able to write a negative message or comment they feel applies to them or heard from others. Students can then rip it up and dispose of it while at the same time being able to receive a positive message in return.
Bite into Bullying: Students sell cookies that have positive messages to stop bulllying.
Safe Partying Messages: We attached cards to our school’s Semi Formal tickets that included encouragement for safe partying by having lines like “It’s okay to say no” on one side, and a compliment on the other to help students have a better night.
Accident Awareness: Arrange for an assembly about safe driving. Have the display of a car wreck involved in an accident due to either impaired driving or distracted driving, allowing students to view the horrific consequences.
Vision Impaired Goggles: Have students wear the vision impaired goggles while performing different tasks. Students can also try playing Mario Kart while wearing the goggles.
Merry Mocktails: Mocktails of various flavours were sold at lunch to raise awareness that one does not need alcohol to have a good time; having fun comes from the people you are with and not from alcohol. Mocktails can be sold at any time of the school year: Christmas, before semi-formal or prom. The money raise can be donated to MADD.
Jeopardy Game: This game can be played during the lunch periods. This tests how much students really know about drugs and alcohol. Contact Tina Russo or Zemeen Kabani, York Region nurses, to have students trained on how to run this event.
Health Fair: The students hosted a Health Fair during the Drug and Alcohol Awareness week and had various community partners involved to create pavilions in the cafeteria to provide information and support material to our student community. We had the pleasure of working with Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Alanon/Alateen, and members of a local Mental Health Committee.
LCBO Bags: The students on the ESP committee collaborated with a local LCBO during the Christmas season to raise awareness of increased drinking and impaired driving during the holiday season. This initiative called on students and teachers to decorate LCBO bags with positive messages about not drinking and driving; once the bags were decorated, LCBO circulated these bags during the holiday season with every store purchase. The feedback we received from local community members was very positive and we are planning to follow through with this initiative again for the upcoming summer season.
Information tables: Tables were set up every day during lunch to raise awareness on marijuana and other drugs, binge drinking, and on healthy alternatives.
Halloween House of True Horrors: Create rooms that depict the true horrors of bullying, drug & alcohol abuse, and impaired driving. Have students walk through these rooms and offer alcohol-free jello shots at the end of the display.
Haunted Walk: Students start off at a bar where they are given the choice to drink or not. If they choose to drink, they go down a path that represents the horrors of alcohol abuse. At the end, there is a police officer who asks them how they are going to get home. If students choose not to drink, they go down a fun path where they are given candy and can celebrate Halloween.
Mental Health Awareness Week: For Mental Health Awareness Week, we focused on four major mental health disorders. We had a booth set up at lunch where students could win lollipops if they answer a question about the mental health disorder that we were focusing on that day. We had posters of celebrities who have faced mental health challenges around the school to show how common mental health disorders are. In addition to the posters, we also had announcements about mental health. On the last day we held the Stomping out the Stigma event. We held it at lunch and asked students to come to the foyer where we all literally stomped out the stigma around mental health together by popping bubble wrap. It was a creative way to raise awareness and involve everyone in Mental health Awareness Week.
Exam Survival Kits: We created “Exam Survival Kits” that contained: a healthy snack, a pencil, tips for studying pamphlet, and a card with encouraging quotes and hotline numbers for help dealing with anxiety and stress. These were passed out to every student in the school.
Choose Extraordinary: We took inspiration from Dove’s “Choose Beautiful Campaign” and brought “Choose Extraordinary” to our school. In which we labeled the front doors with “Average” and “Extraordinary” and locked the average door to discourage students from picking that one. Giving us the opportunity to congratulate them upon walking through the extraordinary door.
Yoga: Arrange for a yoga instructor to come to your school either during the lunch periods or after school. Students can sign up to attend the class and learn about relaxation techniques.
St. John's Ambulance Therapy Dogs: We brought in therapy dogs before exams. These dogs were in the library, and students were able to spend time with the dogs while listening to their owners talk about the calming effect dogs have on people.
Therapeutic Paws of Canada: Representatives and their beautiful dogs visited our school during the lunch period; students who had permission forms signed by parents were able to visit with the dogs.
Zoo to You: Students can spend time with trained kangaroos to help them de-stress. (www.zootoyou.ca)
De-stress Days: Various days throughout the year, usually before exams (or featured for mental health week), we sell cookies, provide coloring sheets, calming music and complimentary tea in a room for students to relax.
Tea-Stress Days: Free tea is given to students. They are also given tips on how to study for exams.
Meditation Specialist: Teresa Fraser from Angels’ Cove Healing Arts visited our school and ran meditation sessions with 16 classes that signed up (held in the library all day).
Girlz Night In: A mentor program for younger students with the help of senior students, working towards increasing self-esteem, and recognizing each individual’s beauty. Some workshops included yoga dance/life coach session, journal making workshop, kickboxing, skin and beauty tips, impact of social-media and our self-esteem workshop. Post activities included: cosmetologist session and session with a registered dietitian.
Have A Good Day Cupcake: Bake sale with motivational quotes on the cupcakes to uplift the students’ spirits.
Banner competition: A homeroom competition for classes to make banners regarding bullying prevention, with the banners being displayed in the cafeteria for the duration of the entire school year.
Health Fair: Host a community fair. Several organizations came in and set up tables with activities they ran with students. They also distributed resources. The organizations included York Regional Police, Canadian Mental Health Association, as well as a Public Health Nurse.
Workshops: Conducting workshops in all of the grade 9 classrooms on mental health vs. mental illness and stigma.
Basketball game with YRP: Schools can arrange to have a basketball game with the YRP. A fee can be charged for others to watch the game between students or staff against the YRP. Money collected can be donated to an organization dealing with mental health.
Distracted Driving: A lunch time event was held in the main hallway talking about the danger of distracted driving. A simulation exercise was created. A section of the hallway was cordoned off and volunteers were blindfolded and asked to navigate the course. Information handouts were distributed to participants.
Panel Discussion: Invite community partners such as the YRP, Arrive Alive, MADD, and public health nurses. Each member will discuss the impact of impaired driving. Students in the audience can then ask questions. *** Please note: This activity can be done for Drug & Alcohol Awareness week and Mental Health week.
Bake Sale for a cause: 360 Kids plays a big role in our community where they help youth as well as families feel safe and stable by providing them with a place to stay and the resources they may need to live the life that they desire. They help the youth, the students at our school and our friends to make positive changes to their lives and to overcome barriers. 360 Kids is here in our community to move the youth from crisis to safety and security, and that is why we chose their organization to donate our Bake Sale proceeds to.
Dodge ball Tournament with the YRP: Arrange to have a Dodge-ball Tournament and donate the money to a worthy cause. Participants of the dodge-ball event should include students, staff as well as our community police officers. Students will have fun playing dodge-ball with the people that support and protect us in our community. It allows students to socialize and connect with police officers because they are no different than one of our teachers or parents.
National Non-Smoking Week - Pig's Lung Display: Set up the pig's lung display in the hall during the lunch periods. Students will be able to see a healthy lung and a diseased one. Have pamphlets on tobacco use. Include information on vaping as well.
Rise and Shine with ESP: Student members gather together (used to be every Monday but changed to the first Monday of each month) at 7:45 a.m. in the foyer to pass out stickers, lollipops, ribbons, themed materials, give out compliments, play upbeat music and share smiles all in hopes to brighten someone’s day from the Monday morning routine.
Commemoration of Victims in the Montreal Massacre: A large table display was set up in the middle of the main hall to commemorate the victims of the Montreal Massacre. There were also displays on violence against women.
Positive Body Image Week: Booths were set up every day of the week to raise awareness on sun safety (use of tanning beds), body building abuse, eating disorders, and healthy eating. Inner beauty was promoted and buttons were distributed to students who were not using either make-up or hair products. The buttons read: You are beautiful.
Life after grade 8: Students present to the grade 8 students of the feeder schools what they can expect when they arrive at high school.