Wells Upstanders Spreading The Word

For the past nine years, Wells' 7th  graders have attended the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center's Leadership Institute for middle school students. After a keynote presentation by a living historian, Wells students collaborated with 100 others from 37 middle schools from the Hudson Valley in breakout sessions on How to Respect the Rights of All Individuals and How to Be an Upstander. 

“The conference promotes students to be upstanders themselves and to take action against bullying behavior they may see particularly in school,” explained seventh grade social studies teacher and advisor to the group, Marissa Gargano.

But the conference was not the end of the experience. Students who participated in the conference–Dylan Whitman, Cameron Cluzet, Gabriella Cozart, Faith Roberts, Victoria Smith, Jillian Kennedy and Thiago Davilla–worked together and designed a lesson which they presented to all 6th grade social studies classes this week lessons entitled:  "Respecting the Rights of All Individuals" and "Words Matter."

The students fanned out across Wells to share what they learned.

In Mr. Bellicci’s classroom, Victoria Smith, Jillian Kennedy and Thiago Davila explained to students what it means to be an upstander. They made use of a powerpoint presentation they had created which included definitions, pictures and scenarios.

Scenarios were then posed to the sixth graders:  What would you do if you were shopping at the mall and you were mistakenly given an extra twenty dollars change; what would you do if your best friend was the only one not invited to a party; what would you do to protect Elizabeth Eckford, one of the first high school students integrated into the school system in Little Rock Arkansas in 1957 from threatening protestors? 

Sixth graders were then asked to decide what they would do in each scenario. 

In Mr. Greggorio’s class down the hall, Dylan Whitman, Cameron Cluzet, Gabriella Cozart and Faith Roberts discussed the history of Elizabeth Eckford and what they would do to protect Elizabeth if they were in school at the time.

“I would sit with her on the bench outside the school and talk to her. I would want her to feel good and safe,” said one student.

The presentations were an impactful way for the students to get interactive and have a better understanding about being an upstander in real life situations.