Yarmouth County students aiming to make a change in their school

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

A group of junior high students gathers in a classroom after school to discuss ways they can change the school environment during the school day.

Change, it is quickly discovered, is something that doesn’t have to be complicated.

If someone is shy, make an effort to strike up a conversation with them. In the cafeteria sit with someone you don’t normally hang out with. Make an effort to say hello to 10 new people each day.

In other words: Be the Change.

Be the Change is a movement that’s arrived at Maple Grove Education Centre in Yarmouth County. There are about 20 students involved but the goal is the changes these students make have a ripple effect.

“If we start out as a small group and we start making these changes ourselves, and within ourselves, and show it to other people, hopefully they will pick up on what we’re doing and do the same thing,” says teacher Michelle Muyo.

Another aim of the team is build awareness on the issue of bullying.

Standards the Be the Change team strives to achieve to include: be inclusive, no put downs or teasing, encourage compliments and love, listen with your ears and heart and be open-minded. During their meeting students share positive or new aspects about themselves and their classmates. They also discuss acts of change that they have personally undertaken within the school and ones they can act on as a group.

In addition to what is happening in the school, the students also have their sights set on the future. The team is hoping to bring Challenge Day to schools in the area. Challenge Day is a non-profit movement that – through a one-day workshop with students –promotes respect and love for one another by challenging students to reach out to others, not to judge other people, to have empathy for other people and to build connections with fellow students.

Since 1987, Challenge Day has inspired hundreds of thousands of youth and adults in 450 cities, 39 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, and in Japan, Germany, and Australia.

In the meantime, the Be the Change team will keep plugging away at the same values promoted by Challenge Day. Even the meetings themselves seem to achieve that goal.

“You’ve had such a busy day and you have these meetings and afterwards you just feel so great,” Muyo says. “I end up going home feeling super, and I’m sure the rest of them do as well.”