East Grand students fight bullying with patriotism

    DANFORTH — Concerned with a nationwide rise in classroom bullying, students and staff of East Grand School in Danforth presented a united front in the hopes of solving the problem in before it starts.
    As part of the Olweus Anti-Bullying Program, the school held a kick-off assembly on Oct. 22 to mark the beginning of the school’s anti-bullying effort. Students attended an anti-bullying assembly, where they joined the East Grand Defense Corps.
    It’s mission — “Taking a stand for those who can’t.”
    “With so many Danforth natives serving overseas in the National Guard, combining the virtues of military service with peacekeeping efforts at school was a perfect fit,” said Tammi Matula, spokesperson for the program.
Contributed photo
MILITARY MOM — Holly Mailman, wife of deployed soldier, Emmett Mailman, attends the kickoff with the newest addition to the family.
    The assembly began with patriotic music sung by the sixth grade, followed by a multimedia presentation about life in Afghanistan. Rhonda Irish, who has two sons, Chris and Tim Irish, deployed in the combat zone, hosted the presentation. Josh Rollins, Emmett Mailman, Sarah Rodier, Tim Potter, Nick Malone and Keith Shain, all serving in the same National Guard unit, joined them. Students got a look at Afghanistan through the eyes of the soldiers through photographs and Irish’s personal stories.
    High school principal and science teacher David Apgar commissioned the East Grand Defense Corps and laid out its mission to the students. Each student created a signed handprint to show his or her dedication to the mission, and each received a “uniform” in the form of an East Grand Defense Corps T-shirt. The handprints were arranged around photos of Danforth’s soldiers, honoring their service in protecting the rights of others.
    Speech therapist Susan Shain reviewed the four anti-bullying rules:
    • We will not bully others;
    • We will try to help students who are left out;
    • We will try to include students who are left out;
    • If we know that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and adult at home.
    The students adjourned to their classes to participate in class discussions about bullying, and then returned to the cafeteria for the screening of a video letter to the troops, produced by Reading Recovery teacher Matula.
    “Using Danforth’s National Guard soldiers as role models and the Olweus anti-bullying program, the East Grand Defense Corps is confident that they can stamp out the damaging effects of school bullying,” she said.