Announcements Mar. 15
– Mar. 23
“Walk Up” Challenge
(following the National School Walk OUT)
Thursday, Mar. 15:
The upcoming “C” in our 7 C’s of Resilience Kindness Campaign is CONTROL. In
order to truly be resilient, students need to believe that they have control
over their world. Feeling safe and secure helps create control, which brings us
to a challenge we are starting for all IHMS Warriors called the “Walk Up
Challenge” … Are you ready?
Your first “Walk Up Challenge” today is to walk
up to a kid who is sitting alone at lunch and invite them to join you.
Friday, Mar. 16:
The “Walk Up Challenge” challenges us to try harder to reach out with
friendliness and compassion to our more solitary peers. By moving out of our
comfort zones and helping peers feel more welcome, we as a school could
potentially head off angry impulses or an outbreak of violence, which in turn,
can help us all to feel safe, secure, and in CONTROL.
Your second “Walk Up Challenge” today is to walk
up to someone who seems lonely, say hello and strike a conversation.
Monday, Mar. 19:
School safety is a shared
responsibility. We all play a role in taking care of each other and building a
positive environment where we all feel safe.
The third “Walk Up Challenge” today is to walk
up to a student who appears to be reaching out for attention and ask
them how they are doing.
Tuesday, Mar. 20:
Big or small, each of you have
strengths and something powerful to offer the world. We all have the power to make someone feel valued, important, and
wanted also. Take CONTROL of your strengths and use it for today’s “Walk Up
Challenge”.
Your fourth “Walk Up Challenge” today is to walk
up to someone you don’t know very well and talk to them.
Wednesday, Mar. 21:
IHMS Warriors… we as a school see you, hear you, notice you and we want you to
know how courageous we think you each are. The “Walk Up Challenge” is not
always easy and can be scary, but you are making a difference.
Your fifth “Walk Up Challenge” today is to walk
up to the kid who never has a voluntary partner and offer to be theirs.
Thursday, Mar. 22:
A smile and eye contact can go a long way toward helping someone feel heard and
understood. We all have different experiences and as we get to know each other,
we have the opportunity to learn and appreciate each other’s life stories.
·
Your sixth “Walk Up
Challenge” is to walk up to a classmate, make eye contact and really listen to
them.
Friday, Mar. 23: Social
Studies, or anyone else who wants to talk about the “Walk Up Challenge” with
their students, please check your emails for the “Walk Up Challenge” lesson.
Lesson to email to teachers:
As we wrap up our “Walk Up Challenge” for this week, reflect
on how you have “walked up” to someone or how someone has “walked up” to you.
How did this make you feel? How do you think it impacted someone else?
There is one more quarter left in this school year and still
plenty of opportunities for you to continue to “walk up” and help each other
feel safe and secure at school. Here are some more ways you can continue the
“Walk Up Challenge” for the rest of the school year and moving forward in your
lives.
·
Walk up to someone who has
different views than you and get to know them- you may be surprised how much
you have in common.
·
Walk up to someone who
never seems to smile and tell a joke to make them happy.
·
Walk up to a teacher or
staff member and thank them for what they do.
This list doesn’t end here. There are so many ways you can
“walk up” and you could even use the same “walk up challenge” you’ve done
before, numerous times to different people.
Remember, the point of the “Walk Up Challenge” is to
challenge us to try harder to reach out with friendliness and compassion to our
peers. We all play a role in taking care of each other and building a positive
environment where we all feel safe.
