Sylvan Students Unite Against Bullying

students took a united stance against bullying by participating in the “Make It Orange, Make It End” movement on Unity Day Oct. 12.

Students were eager to take part in anti-bullying activities during the day, so named by the National Bullying Prevention Center. The school was a sea of orange as the staff and students engaged in interactive, educational lessons that inspired them to encourage others to join the movement. 

Students in Mrs. Vaccaro’s kindergarten class have been learning that “bullying is not cool!” They read books on the topic, role played bullying scenarios, held discussions, and made lists of what they could do if either they or another person were being bullied. “If I saw someone being bullied,” said kindergartner Sophia Gianakas, “I would tell a grown up that is close to me.” 

First-grade students in Mrs. Leigh’s class placed added emphasis on what made them special and unique and how to feel proud about those things that make them special, like the main character in the book read aloud to them, “Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon.” “I know how to be really kind to people,” said student Logan Cirone. “I know if someone is bullying me, I should just walk away.” 

Students in the upper grades wrote stories, comics and letters offering advice on how best to approach being bullied using only positive words, while other ambitious students in Mrs. Camenzuli’s fifth-grade class took the initiative to write persuasive letters to Governor Daugaard of South Dakota, one of the three states where bullying is not illegal, in hopes that they could help to get the law changed.

Noah Carew of Mrs. Coleman’s fourth-grade class summed up the day by saying, “We have to stop bullying. It hurts people and no one should have to be hurt.”