Today I visited Sunset Ridge Middle School to share a positive message about the power of kindness. We focused on looking for ways to be a hero. I had a great time. I'm so impressed with the administration, counselors, and student body at this school.
At the beginning of the assembly the student council held a flag ceremony. A color guard was called to attention and they respectfully entered the auditorium and posted the colors on the stage. Then, one of the Student Body Officers led the students in the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm in awe of the maturity of these kids. This isn't your typical Middle School.
Julie, the counselor who invited me to their school, told me that last year they set up a texting system where students could immediately text to a "hotline" any incident of heroism or bullying. It is a fast way to communicate with counselors and is getting a high response from the students. At the end of last year she looked at the log of heroic texts and selected 20 students to be Ambassadors for this current school year. These Ambassadors meet regularly and are essentially the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the school.
Recently, a student was in the counselors office sobbing because someone had put a yellow sticky note on her backside that read, "Wide Load". The girl was humiliated. The counselor turned this situation over to the Ambassadors to decide what to do.
They got to work. With networking that is only possible with Social Media, 1000 students showed up to school the next day with yellow sticky notes on their backs that read, "NOT AT OUR SCHOOL". Just thinking about the actions of these students chokes me up. They are AMAZING and will be the leaders of the future. They are leaders NOW. They remind me that there is still so much goodness in people and in the world.
Here is a link to the news story that sprung out of this situation.
http://www.kutv.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_2097.shtml
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