Picking up on pink

BY NANCY KELLY

The Kings County Register

Convergys’ core value of respect for the individual and its dedication to education in the community inspired staff at the Cornwallis/ Digby location to support the anti-bullying initiative jump-started by students at Central Kings.

Late last fall, after the “pink phenomenon” began to spread across the Valley, the province and beyond, Richard Ayling, employee relations manager at the Convergys call centre in Digby County, decided the campaign was a natural fit for his company. “We were excited to provide support to the anti-bullying initiative in the region because we think it's important to not only support educational initiatives through tutoring, mentoring and technology in the classroom, but also by removing barriers to learning,” says Ayling.

After securing head office support, Ayling contacted the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board with an idea to help further the campaign’s message. Local Convergys staff designed a logo, which they had printed onto 700 T-shirts. They also produced 4,000 pink silicone bracelets imprinted with “Bullying Stops When Respect Begins.” So far, schools in Digby, Annapolis Royal, Bridgetown, Kingston and Berwick have received some of the shirts and bracelets to keep spreading the word.

Grade 8 student leaders at Pine Ridge Middle School in Kingston wore the T-shirts at a recent in-school assembly, which was so well received they were invited to make anti-bullying presentations to their local feeder schools in Aylesford and Kingston/ Greenwood

Ayling recently received a call from a parent of one of the two students who spearheaded the original C.K. campaign with a request for some of the items. “Travis (Price) and David (Sheppard) have been invited to make presentations at an RCMP Encounters gathering in February and at an Ontario university in March. I plan to see that both boys have some T-shirts and bracelets to share when they take their inspiring message to others.”