Students at East Marion Elementary were treated to a pep-rally Tuesday, Oct. 19, as a prelude to participating in Unity Day, a special program designed to recognize and reward students who practice positive behavior and help deter the perpetual dilemma of bullying.
"Our goal was to stress the message, which is actually the Unity Day motto, 'Be a buddy, not a bully,'" Robbins said. "Unity Day ties into our core belief and overall focus to reinforce and celebrate positive behavior across all of our campuses, and it's really working well. We're very proud of it."
Bringing attention to, and raising awareness of, the age-old social issue of peer pressure and taking measures to eliminate bullying has spawned numerous projects and programs like Unity Day, that helps to illustrate and convince students that bullying is not OK – it's wrong.
Although pep rallies are typically connected to sports events, Robbins said there's no reason pep rallies cannot be used as a conduit to create the same level of energy-boosting enthusiasm for other areas within the realm of the district's curriculum.
Le'Arneshia Williams, who serves as the social and emotional school counselor at the elementary school, actually created the Unity Day event and coordinated with all the required elements and contacts to make it a success.
A major reason this type of event is so valuable, and actually critical, is because of the Covid pandemic and the psychological, emotional and stressful impact it has taken on most communities and, in particular, the area of education.
"A lot of people are not aware and just don't realize what has happened with some of our children over these past several months. Their consequences and the impact on them may not always be easily apparent, but we're trying to get our kids back to where they were before all this happened," Williams said. "Our focus is on meeting their emotional needs and reviving their normal level of respect, for themselves and others. After having their normal life patterns disrupted for several months, sometimes alone and sometimes fluctuating back and forth during that period, it takes some adjusting to get back to those familiar emotions."
Another issue that warrants consideration are the effects that an extended period of isolation can have on certain age groups of students, particularly those who may experience more accelerated mental and physical changes. Williams said when friends and classmates are able to reunite after being apart for so long, there are many other things that obviously change that can impact their emotions.
"We're just trying to create and reinforce that positive, be responsible, be respectful phase in our students," Williams said.
